Slayers HEART
by Maddy02
Summary: After Try the gang meet again and set out once more in search of a gem known as the “Heart of Iris” but get more than they bargained for along the way as usual.
1. Amazing! Amelia's quest

Amazing! Amelia's quest; the Heart of Iris

The bile was rising up in her throat as she ran, turning every so often to dodge a rock or worse; a spell. Her hands gripped the hem of her dress, lifting it above her knees so she could run unhindered. Why oh why hadn't she worn her riding dress?

Oh yeah, that had been destroyed in Xoana –_also_ Lina's fault.

Amelia ducked behind a large rock to recover and saw the sorceress in question doing similar behind another. Seeing the princess, Lina made several complicated hand gestures indicating her plan, Amelia got the gist of it and nodded her agreement. After a silent count of three both girls leapt up, spells formed in hand.

"_Lighting!_"

With their opponents blinded they took off running towards the nearby forest as fast as they could.

"H-hey Amelia, be-en a while h-huh…? Nic-e dress." Lina panted out as they ran together.

"L-Lina-san, h-how _could _you?" Amelia admonished -even as she ran she was prepared to go into full justice mode if she had to.

"If I'd Kn-known you were in there" she paused for a moment to dodge behind a tree, pulling her friend with her "I wouldn't have blown it up!"

Amelia readied a retort but Lina placed a finger over her mouth to silence her as she looked back for their pursuers. Fortunately they seemed to have given up after the lighting spells. Lina sighed and pushed the younger girl away a bit sooner than Amelia was prepared for and she stumbled back on her high-heeled shoes, only to be caught by a pair of strong arms.

"Hello Gourry-san." She greeted, without needing to look to see who it was.

"Hi Amelia, what're you doing out here?"

"I was going to ask the same thing." She replied, looking at Lina who giggled a little, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly.

"W--ell, we'd heard about this new magic library in Lyzeille so I came to ask about it. And when they wouldn't let me in I kinda lost my patience."

"And so you dragon-slaved the town?" Amelia sighed and buried her face in her hands "Negotiations were going so well too. Ooooh, now what am I going to do?"

"Well you could tell me what's going on for starters." Lina suggested "I gave you my story."

Amelia sighed, nodded and sat down on a nearby tree stump, not caring that her dress quickly became covered in moss and cut by splinters.

"Relationships with Lyzeille have been shaky for sometime now, since the Copy Rezo incident. Recently we heard about an …artefact…that interests Saillune greatly, but it's in Lyzeillian soil. I was here to propose we work together to find it. A way to strengthen bonds I guess… We were just drawing up a contract when the roof collapsed! Lina-san couldn't you _see_ the flags on the embassy?"

"Didn't stop to look" Lina replied nonchalantly shrugging the princess's concern off while Gourry stuck a hand in the air

"Um, I've a question."

"Yes Gourry-san?"

"Why would they work with you? I mean if it's in their land?"

"Technically it's not their land, is it Amelia?" Lina asked and the princess nodded.

"Maybe you had better explain this then Lina-san, I think you understand it. I'll go see if I can find my bags in the rubble…"

Amelia got up and headed (cautiously –as not to get caught) back towards what used to be a fairly prosperous town and Lina got a map out of her cloak and spread it out for Gourry to see.

"Okay! This is the Lyzeille Empire." She said, pointing to the spot on the map "and this, this is the outerworld. This is where the mazoku barrier used to be, notice anything?"

"They're right next to each other?"

"Bingo! Now, the mazoku barrier isn't there anymore so Lyzeille could take over that space."

"Right…"

"However Lyzeille can't officially own the land unless it announces it's expanding borders to the rest of the barrier kingdoms and some of them might want it too."

"So they'd fight for it?"

"Exactly. I'm not really sure about the politics of it but I don't think Lyzeille's in any position to fight a war at the moment- particularly if they can't defend against little old me!" "_Even Martina managed to put up a fight with that orichalcon golem"_ Lina admitted to herself "And they probably need to expand after all that fuss in Sairaag and Atlas City… a lot of people need new homes. So, Amelia came to announce her plans in person so they wouldn't feel threatened by Saillune while she searches there."

"Then what's Amelia looking for?"

Lina opened her mouth to explain before realising Amelia hadn't actually told them what it was she was after. Fortunately she returned then, changed into her usual travelling gear (minus one bracelet -Lina made a mental note to ask about that later).

"I'm looking for an ancient artefact, known as the Heart of Iris."

"The Heart of Iris…?" Lina repeated, her eyes suddenly sparkling as she recalled all the myths she'd ever heard about the gem. It was an amplification stone, pretty powerful although nothing like what the philosopher's stone had been. Its value came from its _other _attributes. Lina jumped up and grabbed the princess by her shoulders looking her straight in the eye

"Are you sure? _The_ Heart of Iris? For real?"

"Y-yes Lina-san."

"Lucky! Imagine what I could do with that! Alright, it's settled! We're coming with you to find the Heart of Iris –just like old times!"

"Yeah!" Gourry called raising a fist into the air, happy to be travelling with one of his friends again.

Amelia didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so she did both.

"L-Lina-san, Gourry-san… Are you sure? Not that I don't appreciate the company but…"

She glanced back towards the dust and smoke that could still be seen rising from above the treetops. She was going to add 'but I'd rather you didn't blow up any towns along the way' before she realised Lina was giving her a look that stated quite clearly 'If you end that sentence the way I think you're going to I'll blow YOU up instead' so she amended herself.

"But I'd hate to interrupt if the two of you were travelling _together_."

From the look on Lina's face the young princess guessed she hadn't chosen a much safer topic, Gourry seemed oblivious though.

"What do you mean? We're always together."

"N-never mind, It's nothing." Amelia stammered out, backing away from Lina who was advancing threateningly.

Lina stuck a finger out and poked Amelia sharply in the ribs, bending down to be at eye-level (Not that she had to move far, the girls were more or less the same height now)

"Listen, we're coming along whether you like it or not and there's nothing for you to 'interrupt' either, understood?"

"Yes! Absolutely."

Gourry watched the exchange curiously before another question occurred to him and he decided to ask before Lina poked a hole right through Amelia.

"Um, girls?" They both looked over as an indication for him to continue, "What does this head of Ipsis thing do anyway?"

Neither bothered to correct him, instead they both turned identical shades of crimson.

"Umm, that is…"

"Well you see…"

"There they are!"

The explanation was cut short as the gang turned to see a mob of angry village people, sporting the usual pitchforks and torches.

"Gods, how clichéd." Lina commented and Amelia ducked behind her for cover.

"Lina-san! What do we do?"

"The only thing we can do in a situation like this." She replied, and Gourry nodded, hand going for his sword hilt. "RUN!"

Lina turned quickly, catching Amelia's hand and dragging her along too, Gourry behind them and the mob followed after, yelling curses enough to make a sailor blush. Lina let out a triumphant giggle as they ran; she was back in action with a whole new quest!

_And like that we've been brought together again! Must be fate, is it just me though or is something, someone, missing…?_

_Next time on Slayers HEART: Books Galore! Meeting in the library! _


	2. Books Galore! Meeting in the library!

Books Galore! Meeting in the library!

It had been nearly a year since Zelgadiss had last seen his homelands. It hadn't taken him long to establish that magic in the outerworld was far too under-developed to hold a cure for him. His only chance there had been with the dragons and, thanks to Filia, their temples hadn't taken half as long to locate as he thought they would. They hadn't been able to help though, and so he returned -still not having given up on the hope that there would be a remedy for him.

He had the vague notion of seeking his friends out for aid. Lina was always listening out for new information and may have heard something. Amelia too, as a princess, had access to more rumours and legends from other countries than most people, and she continually insisted that while he might have searched the public libraries in Saillune, he couldn't have gone through the shrines or the royal library, where there was more likely to -be- something of use.

He had a better idea of seeking his friends out for company. Though he was loath to admit it they were (for want of a better word) precious. There were very few people who could accept him as he was…

Zel sighed and dragged his mind from those musings. He looked around and frowned –hadn't there been a town here before, instead of a crater?

"Bloody Saillune spies" he heard someone mutter and looked over to see an old man dragging his belongings from under a pile of bricks that might once have been a house. Saillune spies? That couldn't be right. Making sure his mask was in place he walked over.

"Excuse me sir, what happened here?"

"What happened? What happened? What does it LOOK like happened! There's all this fuss about Princess Saillune visitin', so we're all distracted lookin' out fer her and next thing I know some flat-chested wench dragon slaves the town an' she 'n' the Princess hightail it! Ne'er thought Saillune would play so dirty."

A stony eyebrow arched as Zel listened to this. He quickly (and accurately) summarised that Amelia had been on official business in town when Lina had chanced by and things hadn't gone the sorceress's way (resulting in the crater). Seeing as Amelia knew Lina, it was only natural they'd run together -so little wonder the town thought they were in it together.

"How long ago was this?"

"Yesterday. Noon. Damnit; I hope someone finds dat little witch and teaches 'er what the wrong end o' a Dragon Salve feels like!"

The mask hid Zel's smirk, but did nothing against the humour in his eyes and tone.

"I assure you, there are a lot of people who share your sentiments, good day."

Zel left the town at an increased pace, if they had only been there yesterday he would catch up with them soon; maybe his luck was better than he thought. That or it was _much_ worse, considering who he was looking for.

* * *

"From what I can tell it's supposed to be in this region." Amelia said as she circled an area of her map with a quill pen as the three leaned over it in a library near where the Mazoku barrier used to be. Lina moaned as she looked closer at the map. 

"In all those mountains?" Amelia nodded,

"Yes, there's supposed to be a hidden valley where a temple was kept to honour Iris. Don't worry Lina-san, these mountains aren't as bad as the mountains of tears, not so steep and not tall enough to have snow."

"We'd still need supplies to explore them though" Gourry pointed out, running a thumb along the hilt of his sword, the Blast Blade –it was no Sword of Light, but in Gourry's hands any weapon was deadly enough. "Tents, rope and stuff. And lots of food."

Lina looked at the map a little longer, a hand cupping her chin as she thought. Finally she looked back up at the princess.

"Where did you get this information from anyway?"

Amelia began digging through her fuzzy pink pouch, pulling out a folded parchment as she spoke; "I was going through Uncle Randy's summoning notes, to see if there was anything useful and clear it all up, they've been lying there long enough…" She trailed off for a moment, holding a brief silence in memory of the man, even if he had tried to kill her "And I found these papers about the Heart of Iris and the temple and where it's supposed to be… I can't translate those lines at the bottom though." She handed the paper over and Lina studied at it carefully –it certainly didn't look fake.

"Let's see, the heart… the temple…" Lina glanced back at the map, making sure Amelia had the co-ordinates down properly "A little on Iris herself… hmm…" Her brow furrowed as she read the last lines –or attempted to.

"I know this language… I just can't remember… something about the sun?"

Gourry looked over her shoulder to try and read the lines himself, but it didn't make any sense to him;

"_Frah dra cih crehac vnus uh rekr, tu hud reta vnus dra mekrd. Creha ed uh so raynd, dryd oui syo caa dra dnidr uv so paehk._"

"You can read that?" He asked and Lina shook her head, more in thought than denial.

"Parts, I can make out the words 'sun' and 'light' … and I think that say's 'my heart' but it's been a while since I've seen this language."

Amelia bounced lightly on her heels as she took the paper back.

"Still that's more than I could make out, even with all the language books in Saillune! Where did you learn it?"

Lina beamed, feeling proud of herself –prouder than usual that is.

"The advanced black magic spells, The Giga Slave, Dragon Slave, Dis Fang, even Blast Ash are usually locked away and even if you find a copy they're all written in old dialects and so on, so I had to study a lot to work out what language the chaos words were in and then decipher them."

"I know they're really powerful, but you went through that for some spells?"

"It's a lot better than what you went through when you wanted me to teach you the Dragon Slave."

Amelia blushed at the memory and looked away, only to have her eyes widen at the sight of the beige figure leaning casually against the doorframe.

"It's still a lot of hassle to learn a language just for one spell" Zel remarked calmly, before standing up straight and pulling his hood and mask back. "And you think _I'm_ obsessed."

"Zel!" Lina gasped, surprised to see him so soon after the defeat of DarkStar -not that ten months wasn't a long time. "How long have you been there?"

"Since you started talking about magic" Gourry put in, and was then bonked over the head.

"Jellyfish! Why didn't you tell us!"

"You were talking" The swordsman pointed out, rubbing his head, how Lina managed to reach the same spot every time was beyond him. Zel smiled, it was good to see things hadn't changed. Except Amelia hadn't said anything to him yet, which was odd. Almost as soon as he thought this however, she dodged around the desk separating them and gave him a hug so fierce only Phil could possibly have matched it.

"Zelgadiss-san! It's so good to see you; I knew justice would bring us together again! How are you? Where have you been?"

"I think you'd better let go Amelia" Gourry remarked seriously "He's turning purple."

Amelia looked up and sure enough Zel was certainly starting to look a little starved for air. She let go and backed away with a small 'eep' hovering nervously nearby to make sure he was alright. Lina was silent as she waited for him to recover – she'd seen the pink and blue around his canteen and was putting two and two together…

"I'm fine" Zel eventually managed to choke out, before taking another breath and returning to normal… what was normal for him anyway. "And I haven't been anywhere of interest, but why are you all here, except that you're running from the people of Alba that is, as I notice it's recently become a crater."

Lina actually had the decency to look a little sheepish at the mention of the town she'd destroyed, but quickly brushed it aside.

"Oh nothing much, nothing much… we're just looking for a temple of an old healer. You may have heard of her, went by the name of Iris. Created the fabled Heart of Iris."

It was quite amusing to taunt Zel, and watch as his eyes bugged out she decided, suddenly understanding why Xellos liked the chimera so much.

"Y-you have information on Iris?"

"Well yeah" she said casually, examining her nails "as if you'd expect any less form the beautiful, young, sorcery genius!"

"Except that I'm actually the one with all the information." Amelia said quietly, so only Zel could hear.

"Of course you're welcome if you wanna tag along…" Lina continued, slowly, knowing this was an opportunity the chimera wouldn't want to miss out on. "But…." She trailed of ominously.

"But?"

"But you'll be the one carrying all the supplies we need for some mountain hiking!" she declared, and Zel sweatdropped, having thought it'd be something worse. Unfortunately he didn't reply soon enough and Lina took his silence for consent.

"Alright then! Now that's all decided we'd better stop by Krimson and get the stuff we need! It's a little backtracking but it'll be worth it! Let's go!"

The sorceress turned and dashed from the room, Amelia following quickly after her. Gourry and Zelgadiss followed at a more sedate pace.

"Hey Zel?"

"Hmm?"

"What does the Heart of what's-her-name do anyway?"

"Iris, it amplifies magic power it also nullifies the effects of…" Zel trailed off blushing slightly "Actually you'd better ask Lina or Amelia about that."

"I did but they wouldn't tell me either."

Zel was going to continue, but ahead of them Lina began calling for them to hurry up or they'd be paying for dinner. "I'm sure you'll find out sooner or later." He said, before picking up the pace to make sure he didn't get stuck with Lina's bill.

"Hey, wait up! I'm not paying again!"

_And the whole gang's off on adventure again! Just what does the heart of Iris do anyway? You'll have to wait to find out!_

_Next time on Slayers HEART: Cursed? Iris theory!_


	3. Cursed? Iris Theory!

Cursed? Iris theories?

Red and blue eyes regarded each other across the table, a silent battle of wills, a test of strength ensuing. At the same moment the hands belonging to each pair of eyes reached out and picked up a knife and fork, but that was all they did, until they got the signal…

"There you are!" The waitress said, putting the last plate down precariously close to the edge of the inconveniently small table. "If there's anything else I can-" She blinked in disbelief realising the plate she'd delivered was now completely empty, along with the other thirty-three plates she'd just put on the table.

"Yeah!" Lina exclaimed, picking up a menu, "I'll have seconds of this, this and this… then everything from here to here!" She requested indicating over half the menu

"I'll just have the same as before please, triple portions." Gourry added. The waitress nodded dumbly and collected the plates again, heading back to the kitchen to inform the chef. At the table right next to theirs Zel and Amelia's waiter was having a much easier time.

"Would you like the dessert menu Ma'am?"

"Yes please."

"Sir?"

"No thank you, just another cup of coffee."

The waiter nodded and after taking Amelia's order, moved off to tell the chef himself and comfort his seemingly distraught co-worker.

"It feel's strange, not sitting with Lina-san and Gourry-san. But I don't suppose the tables here are big enough for all of us and the food…" The princess remarked, watching her comrades' table start to fill up again.

"On the bright side at a separate table we get a separate bill." Zel replied dryly, not envying Gourry for a moment; then turned back to her. "You said before you were the one with information on Iris? What do you know?"

Again Amelia dug the parchment out and handed it over, just as their orders were arriving. She watched Zel's eyes scan the page briefly before moving back to study it in more detail.

"It's not much" She said, after swallowing her first mouthful of double fudge cake with ice cream "But it gives the rough location of the temple, and Lina-san is trying to translate the last lines."

The chimera let his eyes jump to the end of the page and looked over the words at the end, the conversation he'd half overheard earlier starting to make sense.

"This is what you were talking about in the library?"

Amelia nodded, mouth too full of fudge to talk clearly, she chewed rapidly, then swallowed so she could give a verbal answer too.

"Yeah, Lina-san said she recognised it but couldn't translate it directly. I don't suppose you can?"

"As a matter of fact-"

"He---y! Waiter! We're ready to order the main course now!" Lina called out suddenly. The full staff had by this time been called in to take care off the infamous duo's needs and they were only just managing to keep up with the demands. The chef was nearly in tears when he heard they were just getting started, and Gourry _was_ in tears when Lina ordered a bottle of Zephilian's famous import sixteen-eighty-two red wine.

"I won't be able to afford to breathe after this!" he moaned.

"Then you shouldn't have dawdled so much! You ought to know better than to keep a _lady_ waiting!"

"Since when did you become a lady?" Lina repaid the jibe by swiping the last of his salad while they waited for the next order to arrive. Gourry just glared at her, unable to retaliate as she had already cleared all her plates. Lina smiled smugly knowing she'd won.

"By the way, what _were_ you talking about back there?"

Gourry frowned and concentrated for a moment before the memory returned and his face brightened.

"I wanted to know what this thingy-ma-jig we're looking for does. Zelgadiss said I should ask you."

"_Thanks a bunch Zel" _Lina thought darkly, a blush starting to creep up over her face; she sighed and rested her elbows on the table, lacing her fingers together to support her chin.

"The Heart of Iris… A mystical gem with great power… It was created by the Priestess Iris, a Sage of the time-"

"Isn't sage something you eat?"

Lina's head hit the table with a clunk as she internally cursed her friends mentality, or lack thereof.

"Not that kind of sage. She was like Rezo, only not evil." Gourry's face continued to look blank so she sighed and elaborated further "Iris was very talented magically and very wise, she travelled and healed people, fought off mazoku and so on, and thus earned the title Sage. Like…like how Amelia's title is Princess and Phil's is Crown Prince." Gourry nodded, not understanding completely but enough to continue with "Before she died she created the gem that enhances the strength of spells and also… stops sorceresses, priestesses and shrine maidens losing their powers at 'thattimeofmonth'" She added hurriedly in a voice barely above a whisper. Gourry nodded thoughtfully

"Unfortunately it's said this effect is because of a curse that was put on Iris, preventing her from having children and thus ending her bloodline when she was killed at the start of the Kouma Sensou… Of course that was only a rumour -documents from then are hard to come by. No one knows for sure if she was cursed and if that curse was transferred to the Heart…"

Lina trailed off and frowned thinking this through properly for the first time; she certainly didn't like being without her powers at anytime, but she wasn't so sure about the price if the Heart really was cursed. She wasn't ready to settle down and have children _now _but someday maybe… maybe. In any case she wasn't willing to cut her options so short for a few days convenience each month if it came to it.

"I kinda see why you and Amelia are looking for it then, if it works, but why Zel?"

"I said Iris was a very powerful healer, jellyfish weren't you listening?" Lina said softer than she usually would have, glad the conversation was turning her away from the line her thoughts had been taking "It's possible she would have devised a counter curse strong enough to cure him –if she did at the least a record of it would be kept in her temple. And as the temple was so close to the barrier -if Amelia's right about it- the magic around the area should be fairly strong. It's probably the best lead he's had in a while."

"Okay then" Gourry said and grinned, instantly taking a portion of Lina's food as it arrived and she dropped all thoughts of Iris and curses –the war was back on!

Amelia tilted her head to read the words Zel had written beneath the last lines on the paper also managing to avoid the fork that flew in her general direction from Lina and Gourry's table.

"It seems like a set of instructions… I wonder if 'my heart' means the Heart of Iris, or if someone else wrote it?"

Zelgadiss re-read his translation again, making sure he had the words down right.

"It would make sense if it was Iris, of course it could all be a huge hoax. That wouldn't surprise me." Amelia shook her head at him, waving a finger under his nose

"You should think more positively Zelgadiss-san. At least we have a clue now, even if we're not entirely sure what it means…" She read the paper again, committing the words to memory.

"_Frah dra cih crehac vnus uh rekr, tu hud reta vnus dra mekrd. Creha ed uh so raynd, dryd oui syo caa dra dnidr uv so paehk"_

"_When the sun shines from on high, do not hide from the light. Shine it on my heart, that you may see the truth of my being"_

"Ironic that the skills Rezo taught me are the useful ones" Zel said sadly, eyeing the paper and not realising he had spoken aloud until Amelia looked up at him. Unable to face her he stood and pushed his chair back in. "I'll go to the inn across the road and organise rooms for tonight."

"Ah, wait Zelgadiss-san, I'll come with-"

"No, you should catch Lina and Gourry up on this." He interrupted, his voice carefully even. Amelia watched sadly as he left then sighed and dragged her chair across to join Lina and Gourry –after leaving enough money to cover their bill on the table.

Lina didn't notice Amelia for a full minute as she sat next to her quietly, and when she did notice the surprise caused her guard to lower enough that Gourry was able to steal her banana split.

"Amelia? Ah, damnit Gourry that was MINE!"

"You looked away, that means you're done." He replied around a mouth full of whipped cream

"Zelgadiss-san was able to translate those lines" Amelia interrupted the fight that was about to start, and handed the paper over "although they're not much use at the moment."

Lina took the paper and nodded thoughtfully "Well, that doesn't change the plan then." She folded it up and passed it back to Amelia "We'll head out to Krimson first thing, get supplies and get back here. Shouldn't take more than two days and then we can get started…" She trailed off to frown at Gourry who had started snoring now that he'd successfully eaten all of his dessert AND finished hers, he would pay for that… Oh how he would pay… She blinked, suddenly realising the absence of the other male in the group "Where'd Zel disappear to?"

"Oh, he went ahead to get rooms" Amelia supplied, a tad too brightly and Lina's eyes narrowed on her.

"In other words; he's brooding again?" The bright façade dropped and Amelia sighed –answer enough for Lina "Jeez he's so frustrating! Guess I'll have to knock some sense into that stone head of his." Suddenly she rounded on the younger girl with a wicked grin "And while we're on the subject of our dear depressed Zel-kun, what's he doing with your bracelet, hmmm?"

Amelia flushed slightly at the implications Lina was making. It wasn't like that at all! It seemed when the sorceress had put two and two together earlier she'd made five… or possibly seven from the suggestive expression on her face…

"It was a gift, so Zelgadiss-san would remember that even if we weren't next to him, we're always his friends. I knew you and Gourry-san would stop by in Saillune sooner or later but I didn't expect any of us would see Zelgadiss-san so soon." She blinked twice, a proverbial lighting spell going on in her head "Wait, you mean he still has it? He kept it?"

Lina nodded, not sure how else to answer those questions, and Amelia smiled, her usual air of cheerfulness taking over again. "That's good then, even if he _is _brooding he knows we care. Well, I'm going to turn in now. Sweet dreams Lina-san, Gourry-san too." She added then skipped off out the door and to the inn across the street.

"'Night Amelia" Lina called before she was too far gone, signalled for the bill and began to poke Gourry awake feeling oddly content –she was back with friends, well fed and going to sleep in a _bed_ tonight instead of going rough.

Yep, nothing could _possibly_ go wrong.

_I absolutely refuse to let tomorrow be anything other than perfect! You hear me fate? W-wha? What do you mean there's a dragon? And… oh no… it can't be! _

_Next time on Slayers HEART: Dragon attack! At the worst possible time!_


	4. Dragon Attack! Terrible Timing

Dragon attack! At the worst possible time!

Surprisingly Zel seemed to be his usual self in the morning. Lina had been half expecting to have to blast him to get him moving as she normally had to after one of his pity parties, or at least yell at him but he was fine and even joined in to the small talk they made as they walked towards Krimson -catching up properly with events in Saillune and her and Gourry's own adventures since they'd last split up.

Even better (in her opinion) it only took half a day to reach Krimson. Since the second destruction of Sairaag (or third if you counted the original battle with Zanaffar) and the mess with Halcyform in Atlas city there had been much more traffic between Lyzeille's lesser known towns, hence the path was well worn and kept in good condition. She strode into the city; Gourry at her side, Amelia slightly behind humming lightly to herself and Zel at the back.

"Okay people!" She said as they formed a rough sort of circle to discus plans "We've a lot of stuff to get so it's probably better if we all split up to find it faster! We need at least two weeks worth of trail rations, rope and tents, a more detailed map of the area and a horse to carry it all probably wouldn't be a bad thing either." She added with a wink at Zel, and he gave a silent sigh of relief knowing that she hadn't been serious about making him carry it all. "Gourry and I will get the food-"

"NO!" Zel and Amelia cut in simultaneously and Lina backed away a bit from the force of their reaction.

"If you go you'll spend too much and end up eating half of it on the way back anyway." The princess predicted, not having to call on nearly four years experience to work that one out.

"I agree; _I'll_ get the food." Zelgadiss added and Lina glowered at him, beginning to regret suggesting a horse.

"Okay then, Zel gets the food Gourry and I will get tents and maps and so on while Amelia looks for a horse. Don't stress yourself though, it's alright if you can't find one Amelia." She said, still glaring at Zel, the last being more for his benefit than Amelia's. "We'll meet back here in an hour, lets go!"

Zel and Amelia nodded then split off to their respective tasks and Lina turned back to Gourry, only to find him not paying attention to her and watching the sky instead.

"Gourry? Hey Gourry! Jellyfish brains!"

"Hmm? Sorry Lina what was that?" He asked glancing back down to her, and Lina managed to stop herself from hitting him, noticing the slightly serious tone in his voice.

"We're going to go get the tents and stuff. What's wrong with you?"

Gourry blinked looking confused and then checked himself over before looking back to Lina.

"Nothings wrong Lina, I'm fine."

Lina collapsed to the ground but sat up again instantly to yell at him.

"NOT LIKE THAT YOU IDIOT! What were you looking at?"

Gourry frowned and turned again to look back at the point he'd been watching before, Lina stood up to join him. "There's something on the horizon over there…" he said and pointed, Lina followed along his arm and sighed when she saw the dark spot he was referring to.

"Great. Just great, a storm. C'mon we'd better get that stuff before it rains." She said and turned to head deeper into town. Gourry's frown remained as he followed her, storms didn't move that fast, did they?

* * *

Luckily for Zelgadiss the food market was relatively quiet and there were no crowds to push through. He had to constantly remind himself that he wasn't just buying for himself, and not only was he buying for other people but for _Lina and Gourry_. Could he honestly by enough?

Probably not

Dried fruits, salted meat and traveller's bread (little more than oversized crackers) were the order of the day, along with other imperishables. Once he reasoned he had enough he had to find water for them all…

Well, they weren't going to be crossing any deserts and the map they did have said there were a few lakes and rivers in the area so two canteens would do it for emergencies. He set the food packs down next to the fountain in the square and looked through his own pack for his spare canteen, then unhooked the one at his belt.

The blue charm tapped against the hardened leather as it moved and Zel took a moment to look at it. That sound had all but driven him mad in the outerworld, though it had brought him back from the edge more than once.

He unscrewed the lid and dunked it under the water to fill up, continuing his thoughts from the previous day. He had been right in thinking the girls may have found or heard something useful. He had also been right about their company, the instant acceptance back among the odd little group. Even his depressing thoughts on Rezo (damn him) the night before hadn't lasted long against that feeling. Amelia's bracelet sparkled merrily at him from under the water and he couldn't fight off a smile.

"Always my friends huh? What you meant was I'd never be rid of you. Not that I would mind."

Funny how he couldn't admit it to them directly

* * *

Lina yawned and stretched as she stepped out of the outdoor supply shop they'd found. Gourry followed after her carrying their latest purchases.

"What's next Lina?"

"Just a map then we can get going." The sorceress said, checking through the change the clerk had given her then putting it in one of her cloak's many hidden pockets. She heard a voice call her name and looked up to see Amelia come towards them.

"Hey Amelia, no luck?"

"No, none of the horses here are any good for mountain travel, we'd just be slowed down."

"Ah well, I guess Zel will be carrying it after all. No loss to me." She said smiling, though the smile dropped when a shadow passed by over head "That storm came down fast, gah! It's not a storm!" She cried, seeing a black dragon circle overhead then land -joy of joys- at the end of their street, much to the panic of the townspeople who started running past them in terror.

"_Just great, a dragon and today of all days_" a voice in the back of Lina's head commented while the rest of her was eyeing up escape routes and possible strategies for getting rid of the pest.

"Diane-san! Diane-sa---n!"

Lina's keen ears followed the sound of the voice to two figures running against the crowd, two girls, one much older carrying a sword and a determined look, her hair swept out of her face into a clasp, silver breastplate glistening under the sun while the younger one ran a few steps behind, short hair decorated with a ribbon at the back, summer dress coming to mid calf and a rabbit clutched in her arms. The older one, Diane, glanced back at the younger to show she had her attention.

"Diane-san, why are we running **towards **the dragon!"

"So I can kill it of course, Miki-chan. Kill the dragon, get the reward, eat like there's no tomorrow while the townspeople worship me!"

"Why does that sound familiar?" Gourry asked, scratching his head while Amelia sweatdropped and covered her face with a hand.

"Because it's exactly what Lina-san would do."

"I see… Hey Lina, why don't we kill the dragon and eat then?"

Lina paled for a moment but quickly recovered giving a boisterous laugh that set Amelia's hair on end.

"OH HO HO HO HO! You gotta give the new generation a chance now and then, besides why should I work free of charge when someone else is already doing it?"

"The reward." Gourry stated, choosing that moment to be uncommonly smart. Lina just laughed and waved her hand dismissively, but Amelia's suspicions were raised.

"Lina-san it's not… It is isn't it?" Lina sighed

"If you're thinking what I think you're thinking then you're thinking right."

"Who's thinking what?" Zelgadiss asked as he arrived, never taking his eyes from the dragon and the lady trying to fight it single handed.

"Lina-san can't use her-" "How did you find-" both girls started at once their voices merging and Zel took a moment to fill in the gaps before responding.

"All the people were running away from here, so obviously this is where you would be. And that's probably a good thing –Krimson won't be the next of Lyzeille's towns to be destroyed by Li-um, by magic." He amended before saying something he'd probably be made to regret.

"Yeah, great for Krimson, but meanwhile there's a **DRAGON** and I can't kill it!" Lina yelled and as if to prove her point the swordswoman currently fighting the dragon screamed, having her leg grazed by a particularly sharp claw.

All of Gourry's chivalrous and hero-esque instincts kicked in at that moment and he dumped the equipment he'd been carrying into Lina's arms (not noticing as the sudden weight caused her to overbalance and fall taking Amelia with her) and charged towards the dragon.

"_Light come_ –Damnit!" He called as he ran, twisting the hilt of his sword so the steel blade would remain in the sheath freeing the hilt only to remember as the blade stuck that he didn't have the Sword of Light anymore and this was the Blast Blade. He looked down to get the sword free but kept moving; resulting in him running straight into the dragon's side.

"**JELLYFISH!**"

"Lina-san get _off_!"

"_Elmekia Lance!_" Zelgadiss chanted and fired the spell at the dragon, wondering why (as usual) he seemed to be the only sane person within fifty feet.

Zel's attack didn't do any damage to the dragon but did distract it long enough to allow Gourry and Diane to stand or ready their weapon respectively. They had no time to do more than that though as the dragon's tail came crashing down and they sprang in different directions to avoid it. The head followed Gourry, attempting to bite and flame him while the tail swung back and forth keeping the swordswoman on the defensive as she could do no more than try to dodge it and give the occasional swing when it passed underneath, her sword bouncing off the hardened scales.

"This is gonna take a while isn't it?" Asked Lina watching the fight from a safe distance-having untangled herself from Amelia. Beside her Zelgadiss nodded in agreement.

"Most likely; the girl's sword doesn't seem to be enchanted and Gourry can't get close enough to attack."

"Why did this have to happen _today_? The only way I've ever been able to outright kill a dragon was with a Dragon Slave and there's no chance of that."

"What's going on? I can't see!" A small voice called from behind them and they turned to see the younger girl from before. "Is Diane-san okay? I'm Miki by the way. Who are you? Are you gonna fight the dragon?" She rattled off in the way only young children seem able to

Before either of them could answer any of the questions she gave a startled cry as the rabbit leapt out of her arms and started running towards the fight with a demonic red gleam in its eyes. The would-be-fighter was stopped when it collided with Amelia's turquoise boots and the princess quickly scooped it into her arms. The demonic glow disappeared and the bunny looked up at her the very picture of innocence.

"Cute!" Amelia squealed hugging the rabbit tighter, completely captivated.

"Amelia this is no time to admire the wildlife!" Lina shouted, one hand on Miki's shoulder to keep her from chasing after the rabbit "We need a-"

"HAAA!" Diane yelled; cutting Lina off as she used all her strength to drive her sword _through_ the dragon's tail as it passed under her. The blade snapped off leaving her with only a hilt and a few inches of jagged steel attached. The dragon whirled round to face the now defenseless woman, her face turning an unnatural shade of blue from fear.

Of course this action meant the dragon had to take its eyes off Gourry, which -for anything fighting against the swordsman- was a grave mistake. He leapt into the air, lifting his sword above his head and doing a mid air flip to gain the required momentum as his blade came down heavily on the beast's flank; leaving a huge gash in it's side.

"--plan." Lina finished belatedly as the dragon clutched a claw over it's wound and took off into the sky flying away as fast as it could leaving behind a trail of tears.

"Phew, glad that's over." Gourry said good naturedly and sheathed his sword, offering Diane a hand up from where she had collapsed "You're very good, who taught you?"

"I-I'm self-taught" She managed to answer, not fully believing she had survived, allowing Gourry to pull her to her feet and then following after him in a daze as he headed back to the others

"He---y, Lina do we get to eat now?"

Everyone apart from Lina collapsed at that statement, while the sorceress only grinned.

"Great idea Gourry. We'll just find the mayor or whoever runs this town and claim the reward!

"Hey! That was my plan!" The swordswoman complained, recovering from the shock of Gourry's question.

"Yeah well I suppose you _did_ help so we can split the reward." Lina stuck out a hand to shake "I'm Lina, this is Zel, Amelia and Gourry, and you are?"

"Diane Victory" she replied, shaking Lina's hand "And my adoptive sister, Miki."

"Nice to meetcha Lina-san. Can I have my rabbit back now?" She asked, looking over to Amelia who smiled and bent down to transfer the rabbit into the younger girl's arms.

"Yay! DQ, I was worried 'boutcha."

"DQ?" Amelia asked, head tilted to one side questioningly

"Demented Quadruped" Diane supplied giving the bunny a suspicious glare as if expecting it to suddenly change into a monster and from what Lina had seen earlier she wouldn't be surprised if it did. "I don't know why I put up with that… _creature_… that's the trauma of sisterhood I suppose. Anyway the mayors office is a couple of streets away, but we can't claim the reward if the dragon isn't _dead_."

Lina's face fell and Gourry looked between the two women coming to one very saddening conclusion

"Does that mean we don't get to eat?"

Lina nodded and sighed, kneeling down and drawing circles in the ground with her own personal cloud of gloom hanging over her. Amelia and Zel glanced at each other and both stepped forward taking Lina under one arm on each side.

"Is there somewhere we can by a map around here?" Amelia asked as Zel picked up the equipment they'd dropped with his free hand.

"Sure just down the street on the left there, that bookshop."

"Thank you Diane-san, take care."

They started dragging Lina away quickly, aware that in a matter of minutes she was going to explode at the unfairness of it all -even if Gourry had been the one doing the work- and anyone within thirty feet was likely to have their eardrums burst, Gourry trailed dejectedly after them. Miki looked up at her sister once the group was out of earshot.

"Diane, I though the reward was for anyone who made the dragon go 'way?"

"Yes, well Miki-chan, it's an unspoken law of the land; what you don't know can't hurt you. If they don't know that then there's more reward for us. Come on and I'll buy you a cake."

"Diane! Your heart must be stone cold! ...Two cakes."

"Deal, lets go!" She replied and dashed off towards the mayor's office as at the end of the street Lina began venting her anger, yelling unintelligibly at the sky.

_It's just not fair! All that work for nothing and I still can't use my magic! Looks like we may be stuck in Krimson for a while until I can fight again…_

_Next time on Slayers HEART: Enticing! All for the want of a warm bed!_


	5. Enticing! All for the want of a warm bed

_Lina Inverse here! After meeting up with the gang again in Lyzeille we've decided to go after the fabled "Heart of Iris"! But we need some supplies first and a place to stay tonight after an encounter with a dragon and a demented bunny… don't ask. All I want is a bed for tonight! _

Enticing! All for the want of a warm bed!

The inn's owner watched with no small measure of trepidation as the petite woman strode her way towards the counter. It was easy to tell this lady was a fellow businesswoman from the confident way she carried herself; head held high and red eyes unflinching. She looked over the rest of the group waiting by the door; a slightly shorter woman, a masked man and a tall blonde to match even her own prized locks… inspiration suddenly took hold. This lady may be a businesswoman, but could her skills match those of Laura of Elling lodge?

"How much for four rooms?" Brown eyes narrowed, allowing her to set the high price? This lady was either a master or very, very rich.

"For four singles it would be five hundred in silver -but I can tell you wish to go lower."

"Damn straight. Three fifty."

"Four hundred. Unless…" she trailed off deliberately

"Unless?" Ah, a curious businesswoman. Laura smiled; this may just work.

"Unless your companion would be willing to do a small favor for me?" She asked, indicating the tall swordsman.

"Gourry? Depends on the favor."

Laura nodded, she had expected that answer. She leant forward across the counter lowering her voice although there was no-one else in the room to hear.

"Lately I've been dealing with a… troublesome suitor. I was hoping the gentleman might… "

"'_Convince_' him to leave you alone?" Lina asked, but the lady shook her head and blushed slightly.

"No I've tried that, I thought, perhaps, that is, if he could… _divert_ him? I know it's an odd request but… well… he does prefer blondes and with the right make-up--"

Lina cut her off with a wave of her hand, grinning wickedly; it seemed her chance to get back at Gourry for taking her desert the other day had finally come.

"He'll do it –for the right price. Let's say… one hundred, including dinner."

"One hundred and dinner at half price"

"Free desert"

"Only if you succeed"

"Deal."

The women shook hands across the counter and Lina waved the group over to tell them the good news…

* * *

"No, no, no, no, no, **NO!**" Gourry yelled, scrambling back against the wall of his room as if trying to dig his way through it to freedom.

"You don't have a choice in this Gourry! Now stop complaining and hold still or I'll smudge this!" Lina stated, advancing on him with lipstick in one hand.

"No! Zelgadiss, help me!" He cried, desperately grabbing the other man's leg.

"Oh no, I'm staying out of this." Zel replied pulling away. There were very few things that scared the chimera but Lina advancing towards him with lipstick was very high on the list of things that did. Particularly when Amelia was standing behind her holding a hairbrush and the pinkest ribbon in existence.

"Traitor!"

Zel just shook his head and backed away further watching as Lina and Amelia somehow managed to overcome the swordsman and thanking Cepheid it wasn't him. No less than ten minutes later Gourry stood before them completely transformed and looking absolutely miserable while Lina and Amelia congratulated themselves.

"What do you reckon Amelia? Our best yet?"

"Absolutely! I love that eyeshadow Lina-san it goes so well with the dress."

"Hehe, it's the perfect colour even if I say so myself. How'd you get his hair to sit like that?"

"Patience and experience; I used to put my sister's hair up like that for her. Surprised I still remember how."

"You guys… Do I have to do this?"

"Gou-rry! We're getting rooms for one fifth the price, half price dinner and FREE desert! All you have to do is try to look attractive for a little while. It's a great deal! Now straighten that posture and smile!"

Gourry sighed, stood up straight and plastered a fake smile to his lips and giving a mock curtsey only to slip as the unusually high heels he wore slid across the wood floor. He glared at the offending footwear as if they had deliberately set out to hurt him

"How do you _walk_ in these things?" Lina sighed resting her forehead in her palm waving a hand to indicate for Amelia to take over.

"It's really easy Gourry-san. Heel then toe, heel toe, heel toe." She backed her words up with a demonstration; walking across the room in a precise manner, setting her heel down first then shifting her weight forward to the ball of her foot as she brought the other heel down in front.

"You're not in heels though." Zel pointed out from his chair in the corner as he watched her pace the room. Amelia rolled her eyes in response.

"Lina-san would you get my heels from my bag please?"

The sorceress complied and Amelia quickly switched her boots for the heels she had been wearing when she met Lina and Gourry again. She gave Zelgadiss a pointed look before repeating the motion with ease stopping in front of Gourry to help him up and link her arm through his to support him while he tried it.

"Don't look down Gourry-san, chin up."

"What do you mean don't look down! I'll fall over if I don't!"

"No you won't, now look. Back straight, shoulders square, stomach in, chest out, head up, eyes forward, feet together, now glide." She commanded, pulling him into position and giving a slight push to get him going

"You're a slave driver!" he complained giving Lina a look as she tried to smother her laughter at the sight of the swordsman being bossed around by a girl only half his size. He continued to glare not noticing that he was actually walking.

"See! I knew you wouldn't fall, justice always triumphs!"

"I suppose you learnt things like this from being a princess?" Zel inquired and Amelia nodded.

"Yeah, my dance instructor always said; "Before you can dance you have to walk." I had to walk around the room in heels, perfectly poised, with a book balanced on my head at the start of every lesson and if it fell I had to start all over again, until I did it perfectly. _Then_ we got onto the dancing."

"_Dancing_?" Gourry looked up in shock "You don't expect me to dance in these!"

"Don't worry Gourry." Lina interrupted "You don't have to dance. Now let's go sort this suitor guy out so we get that discount!" She said grabbing his am and dragging him out of the room. Zel made to follow but stopped at the door realising Amelia wasn't with him.

"Amelia? Aren't you coming to see this?"

The princess looked up from her position on the floor where she had been taking her shoes off "Of course, just once I get my boots back on." At Zel's confused glance she continued "Just because I _can_ walk and dance in heels doesn't mean it isn't _very_ uncomfortable."

Zel shook his head and made his way slowly down the stairs. He had decided long ago that there was no point in trying to figure women out.

* * *

Gary was in a very good mood. It was a beautiful day –evening rather; the sun was shining late, a sign that summer was near, birds were singing, the dragon pest had been dealt with and today was the day he proposed to his love.

That is, today was the day she would accept, having already turned him down fourteen times. Not that that bothered him. He and Laura were clearly _meant_ to be. So with that thought in mind he entered the inn

And was instantly knocked off his feet by the blonde beauty there

…literally, as she stumbled on her high heels and crashed into him.

"Gou -ahem- Gourrina! You should watch where you're going!" Another woman, a sorceress by her attire with the most striking red eyes, admonished. And the blonde glared at her before getting off him and apologising in a strangely high pitched voice.

"Oh I'm so sorry sir, are you alright?" '_I am NEVER letting Lina do this to me again. Amelia either._' Gourry silently swore to himself, with every intention of keeping that vow.

"Yes, yes I'm fine." Gary said, getting to his feet and offering a hand to pull Gourry -Gourrina - to her feet before dusting himself off. "If you'll excuse me, ladies." He added once clear of dust and made his way towards the counter and the extremely pale Laura behind, but he didn't notice her complexion –To him she was always perfect.

When Amelia and Zel caught up they found Laura looking extremely flustered as she talked to a man they assumed was the suitor while Lina and Gourry sat at a table nearby, nothing frightening about this situation except that Lina was wearing her plotting face. Warily they approached the table and sat down.

"There's nothing for it then, you'll just have to seduce him Gourry."

Gourry groaned and let his head hit the table and Amelia looked over the top of him to Lina.

"It's not working then?"

"Nope, barely gave Gourrina here a second glance before going straight to Laura, oh well time for dinner now anyway once we've eaten we can make sure Gourry and Mr Suitor get properly…acquainted." She said with a small chuckle while the swordsman groaned again and prayed for the ground to swallow him there, he seriously doubted this was worth it.

"Does it have to be me?" he asked raising his head from the table "He just has to leave her alone right? That doesn't mean _I _have to be the one to seduce him." Lina's eyes flashed dangerously

"What? Are you suggesting that an innocent girl like me try and attract a strange man's attentions?"

Gourry sat up straight and frowned thoughtfully, cupping his chin in one hand as he eyed Lina critically. After a moment he shook his head

"No, you're right, you couldn't with a figure like that." he grinned seemingly oblivious to what was likely coming next Amelia and Zelgadiss wanted to back away from the table but feared the movement might draw attention to them.

Usually Lina would have Fireballed (or worse, Dragon Slaved) Gourry for that, if not she would have punched or (if she was in a really bad mood) kicked him. Luckily for the swordsman, her magic still hadn't returned and there was a table in the way. So she reacted the only other way she could;

"Is that a challenge? Well then, I'll show you!"

She turned sharply on her heal and stalked off towards her room again. Gourry watched her confused while Zel breathed a sigh of relief, only Amelia remained worried.

"This doesn't bode well… not well at all…"

"What do you mean Amelia? She hasn't hurt anyone yet, and she can't use magic."

"But she's gone into competition mode!" the princess exclaimed "You know what Lina-san's like when she sets her mind to something –especially when her skill or appearance is in the question! You shouldn't have said that Gourry-san…." She trailed off still seeing the sceptic look on Zel's face and turned her attention back to the stairs. "_Gourry-san should know better than to tease her like that…_"

* * *

Lina regarded herself in the mirror pleased with what she saw. Her hair was all up, a few tresses trailing down to frame her face, make-up to enhance her eyes, Amelia's heels to make her legs seem longer (Good thing she and the princess were the same size -in most areas) and finally an emerald green dress. It wasn't silk or anything expensive but it suited her colouring and made her look;-

"Like a million gold pieces! I'll show Gourry who's not attractive!"

She waltzed down the stairs, turning her nose up as she passed her friends at the table and made her way straight to 'Mr Suitor' who was sitting by himself at a table across the room.

"Hey there, mind if I join you?"

"Uh, not really" He replied happy to have any company. Across the room Gourry's eyes narrowed on the couple.

"That girl looks a lot like Lina." Both Zel and Amelia crashed to the floor

"That _is_ Lina!" Zel exclaimed sitting upright again, Amelia crossed her arms and glared at them from the corner of her eye.

"I _told_ you this would happen. Lina-san won't give up! She'll probably force him to fall in love with her somehow and –Gourry-san?"

As the princess was speaking something inside Gourry snapped and he stood up, heading across to join the other table. Amelia reached a hand out to catch him, but Zelgadiss stopped her with a hand on her arm and a barely perceptible shake of the head.

"No, let him go."

"But!" Zel shook his head again and Amelia sighed dropping the arm just as Gourry reached the other table and took a seat next to the suitor.

"Pardon-" he coughed to clear his throat and pitch his voice higher again "Pardon me, but may I join you too? Such a handsome man ought to have plenty of company" He was going to _kill_ Lina and Amelia if he ever had to do this again.

"Well yeah, thank you" was the reply while Lina glared at him –trying to upstage her? They would see about that…

"My goodness!" She exclaimed gripping his upper arm "You're so toned, you must work out?"

"Well, uh" Gourry took his arm on the other side

"Maybe you're just naturally built. Although you have such pretty eyes" He didn't even get the chance to respond before Lina cut in again, drawing his attention back to her. Zel watched with morbid fascination form his seat beside Amelia.

"This is… unbelievable." Amelia nodded her agreement, eyes fixed on the table opposite.

"I'm afraid to watch… but I can't turn away. One of them will snap soon."

The words were barley out of her mouth before Gary leapt to his feet, chair clattering away behind him. His voice wasn't angry, but certainly frustrated as he spoke, in raised tones.

"Look, ladies, I appreciate the compliments, but you're wasting your time! There is only one woman I love and that's Laura!"

The silence following this announcement was broken by the sound of breaking china. Everyone turned to see the lady herself in the doorway from the kitchen, a tray of what had been tea and cake on the floor by her feet.

"Y-you… You love me? I-I didn't… I thought you just…" With three strides Gary crossed the room, stepping around the broken china, and grasped both of her hands in his.

"Silly girl, of course I love you. I _need_ you. You complete me, please, marry me?"

"Y- … Yes. Yes!"

An incomprehensible noise escaped Lina as she stared incredulously at the sight before her. Moments later her head hit the table top, her voice muffled by the wood

"I don't believe this, I just don't believe it."

"Hey Lina, does this mean I can get changed again?"

"I think it's safe to assume so, Gourry." Zel answered as he and Amelia approached the table. Amelia sighed, her hands clasped together in a dreamy look.

"Isn't it romantic? After so many trials, to win your beloved's heart, ahh… love and justice will always prevail!"

"Right, whatever" Lina said standing up, forehead buried in her palm, although her expression softened on seeing the couple "Hey, lovebirds! Sorry to break up a moment here, but are we getting served tonight or not?" "_And am I still getting that great deal?" _

_

* * *

_

After a good night's sleep (and a full breakfast) Lina was trying to haggle down the price of their stay. Laura was every bit the business woman she was though and they put on quite a show for everyone else, waiting to see who came out on top. Eventually they settled on the original deal with an extra fifty for the rooms and half off breakfast. Lina smirked as she began counting out the money.

"You'd better take good care of this girl mister! She drives a hard deal."

"You don't have to worry about that. I, Gary, swear I'll stay by Laura and protect her forever."

Amelia blinked, looking back and forth between the newly engaged couple and her travelling companions

"Laura and…"

"Gary? Protect her?" Zel finished, also looking between the two pairs. "And there I thought things couldn't get any weirder. I should have known better, travelling with you. Imagine, another couple like Lina and Gourry"

"It's almost too horrific to think about!" Amelia said, laughing. Which drew Lina's attention over to them

"Hey, what's so funny?"

Amelia laughed harder while Zel's lips twitched into a grin and he looked away to keep himself from laughing too.

"Nothing Lina, we'll wait for you to settle up outside" he replied and put a hand on Amelia's shoulder to steer her out the door. Gourry turned to Lina for an explanation, but she just shrugged with an expression that read; 'those two are just weird'.

"Lina-san, if you're going into the mountains be careful." Laura interrupted the silent conversation. "There are a few new towns that have developed but they're not actually _in_ Lyzeille and so aren't bound to law…most of them are little more than oversized bandit camps really" Lina grinned at this news.

"I hear ya, thanks for the warning." Laura nodded and sank back into her fiancée's arms as Lina signed the book to say she and her companions had checked out. "Well, thanks. Take care of each other now!" she said and dashed to the door. Gourry congratulated the couple one more time and followed after her.

Outside the gang regrouped and began down the road, while unnoticed by them in the shadows of the alley next to Elling lodge, in a slightly darker-than-shadow patch, a pair of amethyst eyes that had been watching the group slid shut and a Cheshire cat grin appeared beneath where they had been.

"It seems the fun is about to begin."

The grin then vanished along with the darker patch leaving nothing to indicate it had ever been there…

_It's finally time to get this show on the road! We've got a lot of ground to cover to find the temple of Iris! But who's this shady figure hanging around? And while do I feel like we're being watched?_

_Next time on Slayers HEART: Follow the leader! Am I being stalked?_


	6. Follow the Leader! Stalkers?

Follow the leader! Am I being stalked?

It was a credit to Lina's maturity that she hadn't exploded yet and sent Zelgadiss flying over the treetops with a well placed fireball.

After all it _was_ his fault. _He _was the one in charge of the map. Thus, **he** was the one who had lead them through two rivers, dense undergrowth, mud plains, four bandit camps (although those weren't marked on the map) and now…

"What do you call _this_ huh?"

"A shortcut."

"Shortcut _my ass_! **IT'S A VERTICAL CLIFF! **We are carrying at least _twice_ our weight in supplies, have been trekking through this forest for the last two days and you want us to climb a **vertical** cliff!?"

"Actually I was planning on levitating, you're welcome to climb it if you want to Lina. Besides your pack wouldn't be so heavy if you didn't insist on looting every bandit we come across."

It was a credit to Amelia's maturity that she turned away from the argument instead of joining in. Slipping the pack from her shoulders she massaged the lines where the straps had been rubbing against her and wandered across to Gourry who was standing a fair distance away looking back into the forest the way they had just come.

"Hey, Amelia" he began before she'd even reached him "have you had a weird feeling recently? Like we're being followed?"

"The weirdest feeling I've had lately was that eel trying to swim up my leg in that last river" the princess admitted with a shudder and a grimace against the memory "Why? Do you think we're being followed?"

"Yeah"

Amelia sat down and curled her arms around her knees, facing out into the forest like Gourry. She sighed and let her head lean forward to rest a cheek on one leg

"It figures. Usually by this point on our journeys we have a Mazoku lord breathing down our necks for something or other, I should have known the peace wouldn't last."

"Peace?" Gourry asked, looking back over his shoulder to where, sure enough, several fireballs were exploding round a well placed balus wall.

"Well, relative peace. Do you know what's following us?" Gourry shook his head

"It feels familiar… but then it feels completely different, as if there were two… I guess we won't know unless it catches up."

"Hey, Gou-_rry_! A-me-_li_-a!" They turned back at the sound of Lina's voice to see what was happening. A charred Zel was flying his and Lina's packs up the cliff while the sorceress now had possession of the map. "We're going! I'll get your pack Amelia if you take Gourry!"

Gourry took one look at the cliff and then the diminutive princess before turning chalk white and running away as fast as he could actually going **up** the cliff and getting to the top before Zel.

"**I DON'T WANT TO FLY!**" Lina blinked

"Well I guess that sorts that out, you can take your own pack Amelia"

"Sure Lina-san."

The two sorceresses took off and from the obscurity of the trees a shaded figure disappeared and reappeared above the cliff, far out of human sight.

"Gourry-san was always sharper than he looks. Well, no matter." With that Xellos disappeared off again to take care of business elsewhere.

It was a credit to the human race that Xellos hadn't noticed the figure even further back in the woods. The one that had followed him as well as the others. That figure now detached itself from the shadows and began scaling the cliff. Even if it was vertical, these mountains were home, and it had a job to do…

* * *

As it turned out the top of the cliff was covered in yet more forest. Now that she had the map and was leading the party however, Lina wasn't complaining, making for a quieter journey.

Until Amelia tripped.

Such an event wasn't entirely unthinkable. In fact for Gourry at least it was rather nostalgic. It was however a little odd considering the ground at that point had been flat.

How odd then that a little further on, Lina should trip?

Or that the pans should fall out of Zel's pack?

That all could be explained as coincidence, Gourry's hair however could not tie itself into pigtails.

Round about that point Lina figured out who was following them.

"Alright Xellos! Show yourself!"

"Aw, Lina-san, you spoil all my fun." He replied materialising in front of her

"I'm sure! Now what are you after?" She asked, hands on hips, not really in the mood to deal with the trickster.

"Well nothing much. Rumour is you're after the Heart of Iris, the monster race would like a heads up if you get it, so I've been sent to keep tabs on you."

"Too easy. You're hiding something"

"If I am then that's a secret."

Lina sat on a fallen log and rested her chin on interlaced fingers as she regarded the priest. At the worst they would have to fight him; at best he was telling the truth and might even be helpful. Either way between the four of them they had enough power to keep Xellos in check. Chances were, given past behaviour, he wouldn't stick around the whole time though.

"Alright, how'd you find out we're going after the Heart?"

"I have a contact in Krimson, she told me."

"Krimson?" Zel asked looking over "You've been following us since then?" Xellos nodded. Lina sighed and let out a small noise of amusement

"I figured there was something off with that weird rabbit."

"Oh-ho! Very sharp Lina-san."

"Eh? That cute little bunny is a mazoku!" Amelia cried, looking horrified at the notion. Xellos scratched the back of his head as he answered

"Well, not really. Technically DQ isn't even a lesser demon, just… sympathises with mazoku."

"You've probably got such… _contacts_ all over the place" Zel said with contempt "Little wonder you always seem to find us."

"Now, now Zel-kun, you don't need to pretend. I know you're always happy to see me."

While Zel was spluttering over this remark and coming up with ways to physically hurt the Mazoku, Lina decided to wring as much out of the priest as possible, while he seemed to be giving information away.

"Hey Xellos, how much do you know about Iris and the curse?" The question shut Zel up as he too decided listening to Xellos might actually be worth enduring his presence. The trickster was silent for a moment while deciding what he could tell the group before answering.

"The curse is a secret. Iris-san was before my time but I seem to remember hearing that Dynast-sama decided to deal with her personally." Before Lina could fully process this and register the implications of the power Iris must have had to draw the Mazoku lord out to deal with her Gourry drew their attention.

"Hey Lina, I have a question."

As earlier the swordsman was standing a little way away and facing the direction they had come from. Lina now also realised that the first few inches of his sword were unsheathed to allow the blade to be drawn quicker. She stood and separated her hands ready to cast a spell if needed. Amelia and Zelgadiss seemed to get the idea and followed suit.

"Yeah Gourry?"

"If you were following someone and they became distracted by something, like Xellos say, that'd be a good time to surround them wouldn't it?"

"I'd say so."

Gourry's eye flicked back over his shoulder to make sure the group, Xellos included, were alert and in fighting position, satisfied that they were, he looked forward again and allowed his hand to drift to his sword hilt.

"And once they were surrounded that'd be a good time to attack?"

"Yeah, I'd say so."

From the bushes surrounding them about a dozen orcs three golems and a swordsman, blade drawn, burst forth. The golems blocked their path forward, the orcs the sides and the swordsman covered the retreat, standing in direct opposition to Gourry who had drawn his sword the moment the first leaf had stirred. The swordsman broke the silence, speaking in a local accent, clearly understandable but noticeable. He was from the area.

"Well done. Even the Beast-priest didn't notice me, you have uncanny senses."

"You have to stay aware, travelling with Lina."

The sorceress in question stood forward then, but remained behind Gourry, smirking confidently with a toss of her hair.

"I hate to break up all this macho posturing, but who are you and what do you want?"

"Who I am is unimportant, what I want is for you to come with me. You can do so conscious or otherwise, the choice is yours."

Lina smirked again and raised a finger to point at the swordsman

"Bad guys… never get the girl! Take it Amelia!"

"Okay!" The princess called and turned to face the golems, they began to advance but didn't get far "_Dug Break!_"(1) The golems crumbled into dust leaving the way clear ahead.

"Everyone, run!" Lina said and they needed no second order. Gourry sheathed his sword and saluted the other rather stunned looking swordsman before following after them. As he turned, the pursuit began.

"You know Dug Break?" Zel called across to Amelia as they ran

"Of course. They teach us… all the common counter-spells… in the shrines!" She replied

"Less talking more running" Lina ordered from the front "_Dash!_" She added, widening the area of the spell to affect the whole party. A glance back confirmed the orcs were still on their tail though the swordsman had vanished.

"Well as fun as this is I have other business to attend to."

"Xellos!"

"Must run, bye!"

"Xellos! That guy! Always at times like this!" Lina yelled in frustration then concentrated again on putting distance between the group and their pursuers. They needed space to fight such numbers, and the forest just wouldn't do it.

_This is just great! We're being chased by an unknown swordsman with orcs under his control, through strange territory and Xellos has decided to abandon us!_

_How are we going to get out of this one?_

_Next time on Slayers HEART; Get Along, Try Again! Catch me if you can! _

(1)Dug Break (dagu bureiku)

Category: Shamanism / Earth

A spell which affects earth spirit magic or things like golems which have been created by earth magic. Shuts out the power of Bephimos (the earth spirit) in the area and returns things to their natural state. As a result, offensive earth spells are negated and golems become piles of dirt.


	7. Get Aong, Try Again! Catch me if you can

_Last time we were being chased through the forest by an unknown swordsman and his minions. Just who is this guy? Why is he after us? Well, we won't find out just talking about it!_

Get Along, Try Again! Catch me if you can!

A lone sorcerer sat on the edge of a vertical cliff, listening to the story his comrade was telling. Or rather, the excuses he was giving. Anyone who had been to the temple of Aqualord to the south and been privileged enough to meet the golden dragon, Milgazia, would be stunned by the resemblance between them. But for the long length of his hair and emerald eyes (and humanity) he could have been an exact copy.

"Basically what you're telling me is you can't catch them by yourself and need my help." He interrupted his companion's ranting irritably.

The swordsman scowled and adjusted the headband that kept his dark hair from his eyes, brushing the lint from his tunic before he deigned to answer the question. Sometimes that damned sorcerer just _had_ to make him admit his failings didn't he?

"There are _three_ magic users -powerful specialists- in the group. The only way I could capture them by force would be to separate them and even then I'd have a handful. They won't come willingly and the sorceress is too smart to split up."

"I didn't send you alone though" his companion retorted, he scoffed at that and looked up briefly

"The Princess dispelled your golems without lifting a finger. The orcs didn't stick around for orders, probably still chasing them." The sorcerer sighed and stood up, stepping forward level with his comrade, white robes trailing along the ground slightly.

"I suppose I'll have to step in then. I can disable them, but I won't be able to stay for long I have other duties."

"It's enough. They were headed north; we can cut them off at the lake."

"Very well."

The sorcerer grabbed him by the upper arm then, and muttered a Ray-wing spell, lifting them high over the forest before flying north at a fast pace.

"Don't you get a nasty draft up your robes, flying like that?"

"Shut up."

The swordsman smirked and turned his attention back northward.

* * *

The clearing they stumbled into wasn't particularly large, nor was it actually particularly _clear_, being littered by fallen trees and dead branches. It was however, enough for an ambush. Lina ran to the edge, remaining in sight, Zel and Amelia took to the trees on both sides and Gourry to the tree closest above their entry point. 

It was remarkable really, that they accomplished this without any words being spoken.

The orcs tumbled in after them moments later and ground to a halt in the centre at the sight of Lina, arms akimbo and standing directly in front of them.

"I don't know what you guys want, but you should know better than to chase the beautiful sorcery genius Lina Inverse around!" She stopped and began gathering power for a fireball in her hand "You should also know better than to run into what is _clearly_ a trap."

Amelia, Zel and Gourry burst from the trees then, attacking with Deim Winds and swords. The orcs that weren't blown away scampered and Lina let her Fireball off at a straggler, who disappeared much faster clutching his rear end.

"Vic-to-ry!" Lina called, holding up her fingers in the universal gesture. Zel sighed and sheathed his sword.

"So, what now?" Lina folded her arms and made a thoughtful noise, closing her eyes for a brief moment as she deliberated.

"I say we go on as planned. There's one of those new towns on the map a little way ahead. Once we get there we can ask about this guy and work out why he's after us."

"Tch, and we have no idea where Xellos is. He probably set us up."

"Didn't that guy say even Xellos-san hadn't noticed him?" Amelia asked "That would mean they aren't working together."

"For now then we can assume the mazoku aren't after us. Although… that leaves us without any idea who is… or why." The group was silent for a moment, looks of worry crossing their features until Lina clapped her hands drawing them back to the present. "Well lets get on then! If they attack again we can deal with it, besides we've got Gourry to watch our backs" she added with a wink to the swordsman.

Gourry blushed a little at the implied compliment and nodded, a more cheerful "yeah" escaping him and the group moved on again. The main conversation now carried between Amelia and Zel, who was getting a full overview of the princesses shrine education and the various defensive spells Saillune taught its students, whether he wanted it or not. Lina joined in the talk to clarify some point or other and got carried away with her realm of magic knowledge to the extent that, by the time they came to the edge of the forest, Gourry was the only one still feeling any apprehension from their fight.

That however, could have been more to do with the fact of there being a rather large lake at the edge of the forest and their pre-determined route being to fly over it.

"Do we have to?" he moaned looking across the still waters

"Would you rather swim?" Lina asked rhetorically. Gourry didn't seem to get it though and began to answer when she grabbed his arm and took off into the air.

"Well, no but-aurrgh! Lina! Lina, don't let go!"

"I don't think she's THAT cruel Gourry" Zel said, flying alongside them

Gourry still didn't look reassured and screwed his eyes shut, grasping onto Lina's arm with both of his. The sorceress laughed and was about to suggest lunch when they landed to take his mind off flying when something happened that shouldn't have. Something that terrified her.

Her spell cut out.

Judging by the fact Zel was still level with her, so had his.

"Lina, go up! Go up! This isn't funny!" Gourry called frantically having realised they were falling and opened his eyes.

"I'm trying! _Levitation! Levitation! Ray Wing!_ Fly damnit!"

Amelia was the only one to notice the seal shimmering on the surface of the lake and realise what it was. Her eyes widened impossibly as the wind blew her hair away from them.

"Flow break! But such a large area…" Her realisation was almost drowned out by Lina's repeat attempts at incantation and Zel's more vulgar cries of general dissatisfaction with life, the universe and everything, but they caught it.

There was no time to do anything with this information though, before they hit the surface of the water and the air was all but forced from their lungs.

At the edge of the lake the sorcerer ended his spell and indicated two fishmen standing behind him to take to the water.

"Those that aren't captured by the siblings there will be tired by the swim to shore; you ought to be able to handle them."

"Sure, sure" said the swordsman and meandered along the shoreline to sit against a small grass topped bank that during the wet season would be the edge of the lake, but was now exposed as a rock wall, about an adult's height. "You had better get back to Ivan-sama, no point in keeping him waiting."

"Mmm" said the sorcerer, turning away "Oh and Steven? Do try not to screw up. _Ray Wing._" The swordsman made no reply and just folded his arms under his head to wait in comfort.

* * *

Lina opened her eyes and looked desperately for the surface of the lake. Realising it was below her she turned so she was the right way up in the water and began kicking towards it, hoping the distance wasn't as far as it looked. Something grabbed hold of her ankle suddenly, dragging her down slightly with the added weight; Zel! 

If the fall before had scared her then the look in the chimera's eyes pierced her to the bone. He was kicking his legs at full speed, but even that wasn't enough; he was still sinking, and knew it. A look of determination crossed his face and Lina felt him let go and push her towards the surface.

In a moment of stupidity she called his name, and for it got a mouthful of water. She kicked out again and broke the surface, spitting out the water she barely waited to take another breath before diving again.

Zelgadiss was gone.

The last thing she remembered was a slippery arm around her waist before an impact on the back of her head claimed her senses…

* * *

Gourry's head broke the surface mere yards from the shore. Shaking the bangs from his eyes he could just make out Amelia's figure curled over on the beach and coughing water out from her lungs. Beginning a strong front crawl he soon made the shore and crawled along the shingle next to her.

Before they had time to stand the sound of drawn steel filled the air. The swordsman, Steven, stood before them, blade at the ready.

"We have detained your friends, the Sorceress and the Chimera. Now it is your turn to decide to accompany me peacefully or otherwise."

"We?" Amelia asked herself quietly as Gourry drew himself up protectively in front of her, a hand on both sheath and hilt but not freeing his sword. Steven tightened his stance in reaction to the blonde's movements.

"Sorry, but you can't expect me to go willingly with someone who kidnaps my friends."

"That's right!" said Amelia, getting shakily to her feet –the impact with the water had left bruises along her shins that still stung "Taking people against their will is unjust, and trying to drown them is unforgivable! I, Amelia, will not stand for it! Repent or be crushed by the hammer of justice!" By the end of the speech she was standing, head high, fist curled in dramatic poise. Her cape probably would have been flaring too had it not been still heavy with water.

"_Right_" the swordsman replied "the hammer of justice. Of course. Well, seeing as you won't come willingly…"

He lunged for her, but was parried by Gourry, their swords locking. As the taller, Gourry had more leverage and was able to force the other back, but not for long. Gourry was tired from the swim and his waterlogged limbs were heavy and not responding as quickly as he would like. On top of this his opponent was naturally lithe and quick, if not as strong as he was, he would wear him down.

Flipping away from a swing that would have cleaved his arm off, Steven landed ready to parry the thrust he was sure Gourry would follow up with; instead he found a turquoise boot headed towards his face, princess attached.

"Don't forget me! Justice smash kick!"

"I hadn't forgotten you Princess, _Deim wind!_"

Gourry watched in horror as Amelia sailed back through the air and smashed against the exposed rock wall, sliding down it leaving a slight trail of blood where her head had connected.

"He… knows magic… Gourry-san." She stated -rather dazed but at least still conscious. Gourry turned back to his opponent, the most serious look he was capable of set in his features.

"Hey, a real man never hurts a Lady like that."

"I have to be allowed to defend myself" was the counter before Steven lunged again. Ill-prepared for the attack Gourry was just able to deflect the blade skywards, but the momentum of his opponent kept coming and instead of the blade, the blunted hilt of the sword slipped under the join of his armour by the shoulder and punctured the skin straight through.

Gourry cried out in pain and pushed the swordsman off him, sword and all, probably doing more damage to his arm than had he left it in. He swapped his sword to his other hand, knowing he would have to end this quickly, with his lesser arm, before the blood loss ended him. His opponent seemed happy to wait for his attack, probably knowing he was tiring quickly.

"Gr-_Gray bomb_"

The two swordsmen turned to see Amelia, sprawled at the bottom of the wall, one hand outstretched towards them and the last trace of her spell disappearing from it. The ground immediately beneath Steven exploded upward suddenly, sending him skimming out to the middle of the lake with a yell. Gourry collapsed to his knees and sheathed his sword before slowly making his way across to his comrade.

"Can you stand?"

Amelia shook her head then winced at the sensation, her eyes unfocused and her breakfast threatening to re-visit. Gourry guided her to his back and got her to climb on, staggering to his feet by will alone as he had to use one hand to stem the blood from the other arm.

"We need to get you healed. Then we can go get Lina and Zel okay?" '_provided we last that long_'

With Amelia secure on his back Gourry began into the forest, praying to any God that would listen, they would come across a town soon.

_Eeeeh? Not good! Not good! Zelgadiss and I have been captured and now Gourry and Amelia are injured and wandering through a forest with no idea where we are or even where they are! Oh, these things should never happen to a sorcery genius! _

_Next time on Slayers HEART; Hilarious! Can you hear the sarcasm?_

Gray Bomb (gurei bomu)

Category: Shamanism / Earth

Makes the ground beneath a target explode, and deals damage to a target with the shockwave. Can only be used where there is open ground, but against humans it's relatively easy to control whether you want to kill the target or leave the target alive


	8. Hilarious! Can you hear the sarcasm?

_Last time, Zel and I had been captured by the mysterious swordsman who had been following us, what does he want from us? Why?_

_And what's happened to Gourry and Amelia? _

Hilarious! Can you hear the sarcasm?

Lina let out a grunt as her back hit something solid, cold and slightly damp.

Actually, the rest of her felt slightly damp, whatever she was leaning against was just solid and cold. Forcing her senses into action she decided she was sitting down next to a wall.

A harsh grating noise cut through the fuzz still blocking her thought process and she opened her eyes to see a barred door clang to.

"_A cell? Then…"_

Looking past the bars she saw the swordsman from before stepping back having locked the door and without hesitation launched a fireball at him.

Miraculously she was able to get a shield up in time when it bounced back at her. The swordsman stood forward again and tapped the bars with the back of his knuckles.

"Orihalcon, I'm sure you know of it, reflects any spell thrown at it. Pretty useful stuff really."

"Who are you? What do you want with me?"

"You'll find out soon enough. I suggest you rest for now- not that you've got much else to do" he added with a smirk and stepped back again, exiting the room this time by a set of nearby stone stairs. Lina listened to his footsteps receding followed by the slam of a door and the heavy clunk of another lock as it shut.

She sighed and looked around the room, feeling her morale sink when saw her cloak and short sword in plain view- on the other side of the bars. Hanging up next to them was Zel's.

Turning around in a full circle she spotted the chimera lying slumped against the wall of the cell. Kneeling next to him she checked for a pulse and breath, finding both she allowed herself a moment of relief before taking him by the shoulders and shaking to wake him up.

"Oi, Zel, come on, wake up!"

After a moment he stirred and coughed, groaning before he opened his eyes.

"Lina?" he sounded surprised "…I'm alive?"

"Yeah, but if you ever try anything like that I swear I'll find a way to bring you back so I can kill you again! What have I told you? Once you're dead that's it; no take-backs! If you ever give up like that again…" she trailed off torn between relief that one of her closest friends hadn't drowned and frustration with him. She let out a 'hmph' and plonked herself down beside him, arms crossed "I dunno what I'm gonna do with you."

Zel gave her a rare grin before finally taking stock of their surroundings. Three sides of their cell were made of smooth blocks, orihalcon by the feel of it. Presumably the bars were too (Lina confirmed this later but didn't let on how she had worked that one out). On the back wall, opposite the bars, and high up, just beneath the roof was a small barred window (which later also proved to be orihalcon) through which light could enter and small tufts of grass were growing through, meaning their cell was below ground.

Outside the cell were a table, a solitary chair, and several hooks, on two of which were hanging their cloaks and blades. Zel cursed internally realising his lock-picks were hidden in the pockets of his cloak.

"Where-" he began, but Lina cut him off.

"I'm not sure, I only came round when we were being locked in. We can't be too far from the lake though. It makes sense considering I'm not completely dried off yet."

"Actually I was going to ask about Amelia and Gourry."

"Oh…" Lina said, and watched her hands "I lost track of them when I hit the water. They've both survived being lost at sea before though so I'm sure they're alright."

"You're not worried?"

"Of course I'm worried!" She replied, standing up sharply and turning to look down on him. "But worrying won't get us out of here, or help us find them! They're probably looking for us right now and there's no way I'm going to let anyone _rescue _**me**, so we need to get out of here."

"And what do you suggest?"

"I hadn't got that far yet." Zel sighed and let his head hit the wall behind him; this was going to be a long wait.

* * *

As it happened, the only thing Gourry was looking for was a sign, any sign, of civilisation. A road, a path, a couple of broken twigs pointing in the same direction; anything would do!

Amelia's light weight on his back was beginning to feel much more like Zelgadiss and, though he had managed to stop the bleeding from his arm, he was feeling light-headed from the blood loss and pain. They needed help, fast.

"Gourry-san?" Amelia's voice came across much fainter than usual "Gourry-san… I… I think I'm… going to be sick."

Gourry knelt and let Amelia down quickly, the sudden change in altitude making his head spin a little. He was still clear enough to notice how Amelia staggered to the nearest tree to begin loosing her breakfast. He made his way over and pulled her hair away from face, careful of the obvious cut on the back of her head, and rubbed her back. A gesture he remembered being soothing when he was younger and ill.

Once done the princess turned back to him and he frowned at the still unfocused look in her eyes. He was sure he recognised the symptoms, but had no idea what to do except get her to a healer.

"I think you have a con… concut… coconut? Uh, that thing when you hit your head really hard, Amelia. So you need to stay awake until we find a healer okay?"

Amelia let out a 'Mm' and nodded slowly. It wasn't the assured response he wanted but it would have to do. Hoisting her onto his back again he set off, hoping Lina and Zel were okay and would find them soon. He didn't want to think about what Phil would do to him if he couldn't find help.

He was so focused on avoiding that premonition, he almost didn't notice when her eyes slid shut.

* * *

"Okay" Lina breathed, slumping back against the wall "apparently the lock is made of orihalcon too so unlock magic won't work, we can't bend the bars and your hair breaks too easily to use as lock picks… any other ideas?"

Zelgadiss shook his head, from his position sitting cross-legged in front of the lock. Absently he rubbed the top of his head where Lina had yanked out a tuft of his hair to test her last theory.

"None, you?"

"Well, there's always the Mega-Secret Inverse Escape Plan, version four."

"Oh? What's that?"

"Hehe, well" she began, then struck a pose "When our captors come to see us, I charm them with my ultra cute looks!" She continued oblivious to the fact Zel had managed to fall over from his sitting position "Who could fault this perfectly proportioned body and these gorgeous eyes, set with such lustrous hair and a delicate smile?"

"Clearly we've been trapped here too long; you're delusional."

"**Hey!**" Lina faltered, and gripped one of the bars as a substitute for his neck as she thought up a suitable punishment for that remark.

Zel was spared a gruesome fate by the sound of the door at the top of the stairs opening and footsteps descending towards them. They watched as the swordsman came into view, carrying two beakers of water and a loaf of bread that he broke in half and passed through the bars.

Lina accepted the food wordlessly, keeping her eyes trained on their captor and making no move to eat. When he realised Zel was doing the same the swordsman laughed at their suspicion.

"Don't worry about it; it's not poisoned, here," he made to reach through the bars to take the bread back from Lina but she snatched it away and took a bite. Zel followed suit, after all, he didn't know where his next meal was coming from. The swordsman shrugged and drew the chair over to sit down, tilting it back onto two legs.

"So" Lina said around her last mouthful of bread, before swallowing "what do you want with us, Mr My-name-is-of-no-importance?"

"Steven" he replied, leaning the chair back forward "At the moment what I want is just for you to answer a few simple questions. I'm sure you can manage that." Neither made any reply so he continued "How did you find out about Iris, and why are you seeking her temple?"

"Who's Iris?" Lina asked, pulling on a blank expression, reminiscent of Gourry. Steven smiled and leant the chair back again, crossing his arms behind his head.

"Your mazoku friend isn't the only one with _sympathisers_. I know you came from inside the barrier and I know where you're going. So, you can answer my questions or you can stay locked up in there. I've got all day."

"If you just wanted to ask us you didn't need to trap us down here" Zel said, and copied the swordsman's relaxed stance

"Yeah, this is hardly five-star treatment. You can't expect us to co-operate willingly with someone who kidnaps us, locks us in a dingy cellar and only feeds us on bread and water."

"Funny, your blonde friend said something similar."

"Gourry?" Lina blinked standing a little straighter while Zel tensed despite his attempt at nonchalance. Steven grinned and leant forward again-

"**STEVEN!**"

The angry voice cut through the room effectively ending the conversation as all three turned to the staircase where the Milgazia look-a-like had appeared.

"Are you deliberately trying to fail? Your orders were to bring back all _four_ of them. _**Alive**._"

Lina gasped and Zel's blood ran cold as the implications of that one word ran through them. Could he mean… could he possibly mean…?

_Gourry! Amelia! What's happened to you? Please tell me you're alright!_

_Next time on Slayers HEART: Intensive Care! Hey, nobody dies in this right…? Right!_


	9. Intensive Care! Noone dies right?

Intensive Care! Hey, nobody dies in this right…? Right!

The two prisoners watched the mage on the stairs as he turned to their captor, a streak of sunlight filtered through the small window, highlighting his eyes, but it only served to make the emerald sheen seem colder than any ice ever was. Although the look in his eyes didn't cut them so much as his words did.

"Are you deliberately trying to fail? Your orders were to bring back all _four_ of them. _**Alive**._"

Lina's grip on the bar tightened as she had to physically hold herself up as they awaited their captor's response. Her friends were alright. They had to be, they simply _had_ to be.

Steven's eyes narrowed as he returned the glare he was receiving from his associate with a cool gaze of his own.

"The injuries to the Princess were unfortunate, but not life threatening. The other will tend to her until they are recovered."

Lina wobbled slightly as simultaneous waves of guilt and relief hit her –Gourry was okay, Amelia wasn't, and somehow that seemed better than the alternative? Soon both emotions were washed out by overwhelming worry as the Milgazia clone spoke his next words

"And how exactly will he achieve this? The swordsman knows no magic."

From Steven's expression it was obvious he had not expected, or possibly forgotten that little titbit. The slight shock quickly vanished though and he nodded stiffly to the other man.

"I shall search them out at once."

"See that you do." The other replied as the swordsman brushed past him, abandoning all hope of getting any information from Lina and Zelgadiss. Not that either of them were in a state to give it, both consumed by dread.

The look-a-like turned to them for a moment, green eyes seeming to bore through even Zel's stony mask. He nodded to them briefly then turned to sweep out of the room, pausing at the top of the stairs.

"You had both better get some rest. We are not done talking with you yet."

The door slammed shut and Lina stumbled back from the bars to sink down against the wall. It was fortunate Zel hadn't moved from his position during the interview as he was already sitting and his legs wouldn't have been able to support him either.

"Amelia…"

* * *

"Amelia! Amelia! **Open your eyes**!"

Gourry began to panic, holding his friend off the ground, ignorant of his own wound, he shook her and was relieved when she groaned.

"But I'm so tired Gourry-san" her voice was barely a whisper, and her eyes remained shut but she was there, she was still awake.

"I know, but you can't sleep yet alright?" he said and fought through the pain in his arm so he could carry her bridal-style to keep a closer eye on her "You have to stay awake Amelia. Why don't you, umm… tell me about justice?"

"Justice is… is wonderful … it's" Gourry tuned out the words at that point to focus on his surroundings, so long as he could hear her voice and it stayed at that level he would know she was alright, the words themselves were unimportant. What did matter was finding their way to a town or outpost soon. He continued picking his way through the forest using what looked like the most used routes, occasionally asking a question if Amelia grew too quiet.

Things were hazy for Amelia. She couldn't really tell what was going on –she knew Gourry-san was carrying her, because she was sleepy, but it was the afternoon so why was she sleepy? And why did her head hurt? Where were Lina-san and Zelgadiss-san? Thoughts and images swirled around in her head, Xellos-san, flying, a lake… a battle, but she couldn't quite fully grasp any of them coherently. It all became too much and slowly her voice trailed off as she lost consciousness "justice w.. ill… always … triumph…"

Gourry's attention instantly snapped back to his young comrade as she stopped talking, so he missed the snap of the twig that would have alerted him to his pursuers, until it was too late and the Raphlas Seed trapped him.

* * *

Lina paced the cell restlessly, after her earlier reaction she had been overcome by nervous energy and simply _had_ to keep moving, focusing on nothing but the sound of her feet or she would collapse again. Ten steps forward, turn, ten steps back, turn and repeat. She was probably driving Zel crazy, but then again…

She stopped to observe her friend. He hadn't moved at all since their captors left and was just staring blankly at the opposite wall. Crouching in front of him Lina showed an unusual amount of restraint as she waited for his eyes to focus on hers. Once they had, he spoke before she got the chance to begin

"Sairaag" he said and Lina started at the name "This is just like Sairaag, only worse… we don't know what's happening. We have no idea what's happening to her." His voice was flat, devoid of hope and Lina was reduced to silence before perking up in an attempt to cheer him up

"Now, now Zel, it's not that bad! I mean we all _know_ this world is practically built on clichés right? Amelia's a princess; nothing bad like that can happen to her, in the end she gets to marry her Prince Charming and live happily ever after."

She grinned but Zel just looked at her silently before staring at the wall again. Lina could honestly swear she had never seen anyone look more like a wounded puppy

"C'mon, what would Amelia say if she saw you like this huh?" She stood up and continued in a fair imitation of Amelia's voice, making all the appropriate gestures and poses "Zelgadiss-san is a true friend! But you mustn't worry; a heart full of truth and justice will always prevail! I, Amelia, will not allow you to be upset in the name of-"

"LET ME GO! AMELIA!WHERE ARE YOU TAKING HER? AMELIA, **AMELIA!**"

They both turned and watched, stunned, at Gourry being dragged down the stairs, bound by magic and struggling to get free. When he reached the ground, Steven threw Gourry's sword to the table and unlocked the cell, quickly forcing the swordsman in and locking it up again. Without pausing to so much as look at them he turned away again and darted back up the stairs, three at a time.

"Lina!" Gourry's voice was relived as the sorceress guided him to the floor and dispelled his bonds, desperate anxiety soon replaced his relief though. "Lina, Zelgadiss –Amelia! I-I couldn't get her to stay awake, she stopped talking and right then they found us!"

"Whoa Gourry, slow up!" Lina interrupted "Why did Amelia need to stay awake?"

"She had a coconut."

Zelgadiss, now standing above them, clenched his fists; restraining the urge to wrap them around Gourry's neck and shake some sense out of him, or into him preferably. Luckily Lina was between them and more adept at coping with the swordsman in such situations.

Were the situation different, Zel probably would have noted with some humour that Lina was fisting his shirt near the collar and _was actually_ shaking him.

"A coconut, Gourry? A _coconut_!? Listen jellyfish brains, _think_ before you say A. Single. Word. And tell me exactly what happened or I will fireball you to the astral plane and back!"

"W-we made it to the beach and that guy attacked us. I was holding him off and Amelia attacked only he knows magic and fought back. Amelia hit her head pretty bad and her eyes were out of focus, so I figured she had a coconut thing and needed to stay awake!"

"A concussion" Zel said grimly, his frown looking much more like a snarl, teeth bared in anger and helplessness "and she fell asleep just before you were captured." Gourry nodded, unable to meet their eyes anymore.

"I …couldn't protect her."

"Gourry…" Lina's voice was soft, matching her eyes and stayed trained on her guardian even as Zel turned away and slammed his fist painfully against the wall. In the same motion bowing his head into the cowl of his shirt, concealing his expression and muffling his curses.

But Zel wasn't her concern at the moment. Gently, she rested a hand on Gourry's shoulder giving a reassuring squeeze.

"Hey, you did the best you could, right? You realised what was wrong and tried to keep her awake as long as possible. That's got to help somehow."

"But I-"

"Did absolutely everything you could!" Lina interrupted, the softness mostly gone, replaced by the natural Inverse attitude "Moping about it won't help Amelia. And if she were here now she'd tell you not to worry about her, both of you." She added with a glance back at Zel "So quit the self-pitying game. After all we're all back together …almost. At least we're in the same place, that's definitely an improvement."

Gourry looked up and was about to reply when a shiver ran through him. He would have put it down to the stone floor but both Lina and Zel had tensed, Zel's head snapping up in alarm. It was then Gourry noticed the tingling along his arms and the back of his neck.

"What's that? What's going on?" Lina stood up and looked at the ceiling her expression far from reassuring.

"Resurrection… Someone's casting a spell so strong… its drawing power from us… through a layer of orihalcon."

"Damnit!" Zelgadiss yelled "What's going on up there?!"

Lina slid down the wall to sit next to Gourry, nervously playing with her gloves "That mage… he was strong enough to cast a flow break over the entire surface of the lake and maintain it at least until we hit water. The question is… is this resurrection so strong because of his power alone… or is he amplifying it because Amelia…"

Zelgadiss followed Lina's suit and slid down the wall to sit, drawing a hand over his face as he did so and the three waited in nervous silence for news of their friend.

_Next time on Slayers HEART: Justice is served! The Great Escape!_

_But will we all get out of here?_


	10. Justice is Served! The Great Escape!

Justice is served! The Great Escape!

Whoever suggested that the sounds of nature were soothing and aided sleep obviously hadn't been exposed to the sounds of Lina and Gourry sleeping –naturally.

That person was luckier than one tired, emotionally drained, chimera. Although the regular snores were annoyingly reassuring, in reminding him that he was _not alone_, the frustration of not being able to sleep in blissful ignorance of the current situation more than countered any soothing quality _that_ may inspire.

He glared at the offenders. Lina curled up against Gourry's side, head on his breastplate, his head atop hers and one arm securely round her, both snoring open-mouthed. Loudly.

Zel took some measure of comfort in knowing he could tease them in the morning for it. Although in a confined space with Lina that wasn't always the best idea, this time it may have the (greatly) desired effect of making him unconscious.

A ray of moonlight struck his eyes, which was odd considering he was sitting beneath the window in the shadows. He tilted his head to see what it was reflecting off and found himself looking at his canteen, still stuck on his sword-belt. Or, more accurately Amelia's bracelet. His fists clenched

"_I should have been stronger. I should have been faster, I shouldn't have given up, I could have made it to the shore. I could have protected her." _Such were his thoughts of self-depreciation, until another glimmer of light played across his eyes and his vision snapped back to the bracelet

"I thought you were always going to be there! That you were my friend and wouldn't leave me!"

Gourry grunted in his sleep and Lina's snoring abated for a minute, but his companions slept on, leaving Zel in solitude to be amazed at what he himself had said. The anger of that moment left him, leaving an empty feeling he dared to hope would soon pass –bringing Amelia in its wake.

"Zolf, Rodimus" he implored in a softer voice "don't let another friend I could have helped join you yet."

* * *

The Vice Foreign Minister ought to be dropping by sometime soon, to discus the terms on the revision on the silk trade with Elmekia. But Amelia hadn't finished looking at the report on the new exchange from the outside-lands yet and she was leaving for Lyzeille in two days.

_Phil saw her off; on her own for once, not even a standard bearer or steward with her. That kind of formality had been necessary for her trip to Xoana, but it wouldn't do to intimidate Lyzeille. They had been through enough already._

Of course when Lina showed up, all that caution and forward planning had gone to waste. She should have stayed at home and finished the trading reviews.

_But she had only just set off, she hadn't seen Lina-san in ten months…_

Gourry had been carrying her through the forest, her legs felt fine though; it was her head that was feeling funny.

_It was still feeling funny. And her eyes were closed…_

"Mm"

The small noise escaping the princess drew the attention of her watcher. Looking up from his book the mage's eyes took a moment to adjust from the close focus in the candlelight. When she sat up and opened her eyes he closed the tome and faced her more fully, but remained seated, not rising incase it alarmed her.

Amelia's expression was blank and dazed for a minute, before the haze cleared and she blinked in confusion, looking around for any familiar fixture.

"Where…?"

"You've been asleep for the past ten hours. You hit your head and had a concussion. Don't try anything too sudden, your energy won't have returned yet" he added the last hastily, as she moved her arms sharply into a defensive position, ready to cast.

As he spoke Amelia remembered the wall. And the lake, flying, Krimson, the library, leaving Saillune -everything that had been hazy in her mind since her head had collided with the wall. She also recognised the power that had dispelled her levitation.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Michael. And you are a Princess of Saillune, Amelia judging by what your friend was shouting. Although which Princess you are I'm not entirely sure."

"…The younger one" Amelia's eyebrows met in contemplation as she answered. The names and relationships of most of the royal families in the barrier lands were no secret. It occurred to her then that they weren't actually in the barrier lands anymore.

"_We have your friends, the Sorceress and the Chimera…"_

That would explain why they had never addressed them by name. Lina Inverse, the bandit killer's reputation was limited to the confines of the barrier lands and the few outside regions she had visited. The names of her friends and companions would be even more obscure to anyone who had only learned of her existence within the last year or so.

Her friends!

"Are my friends alright? Have you done anything to them?!"

"They're fine. A little worried perhaps, but restoring you to them will solve that" he replied levelly, and Amelia's eyes widened as he brought a cold cloth over for her, pressing it against her forehead. She hadn't realised until then quite how much it had been pounding. "However Amelia-sama," he continued "I'm curious, what are you doing so far from your kingdom?"

"I'm travelling with my friends. Did we trespass or breach sacred land? Is that why you attac- brought us here?" She hoped she'd covered that slip well enough, in her situation, it would pay to be more diplomatic.

"No, we brought you here in a… pre-emptive move. In order to stop you from something my order has prevented these last thousand years."

"If that is the case then why go to such lengths!" the righteous streak in Amelia was asserting itself, and Michael would feel the hammer of justice "threatening us, forcing us to come with you, almost drowning us! That is no way to ensure our co-operation."

"Either we have your word of co-operation, or we hold you here to be certain of it. In the case of the former, nothing can be guaranteed, so we chose the latter."

"That's unjust! It's kidnapping! It's-" all thoughts of diplomacy having vanished, Amelia slipped into more familiar habits, luckily for her target, he was able to interrupt her.

"An unfortunate necessity. If you understood the gravity of the situation, Amelia-sama, you would realise how important it is that you go no further!" Michael's own ire had been rising, but he took a deep breath and continued in a more level, even downright cold, tone "When you are recovered, go home Princess. Return to your Palace and abandon your quest for Iris. Don't return here, and hopefully we shall never meet again." There was something like regret in his voice, but it went unnoticed.

Amelia's eyes hardened, the pounding in her head clearing, one thought sharp in her mind.

"I didn't mention anything about Iris. Who are you?" her hands moved to a defensive position, but the mage was too quick, before she could blink he had cast sleep on her.

Amelia fell back onto the pillow and Michael sighed. He would rather that he didn't have captives to look after. If only they would go home.

* * *

A new sound intruded on his subconscious, dragging Zel into wakefulness again. The realisation that he had actually managed to sleep despite Lina and Gourry snoring doing more to wake him than the footsteps now approaching. His overtired brain still wasn't working at normal capacity and he could barely lift his head as he felt a warm burden placed into his arms. 

Warm and breathing

Opening one eye confirmed it was warm, breathing, dark-haired and in all possible ways Amelia. The sound of the cell door closing drew his attention and his eyes met the cold green ones of earlier.

"She is under a sleep spell and will probably wake in about an hour. Other than that Amelia-sama is perfectly well." Message delivered, the mage turned on his heel and climbed the stairs, presumably to get some sleep himself. Zel didn't care, he wasn't even aware he was breathing until, sixty-three minutes later, just as the light outside became the pale shade of dawn, Amelia opened her eyes.

"Hey"

"Zelgadiss…-san?" she wasn't lucid yet, but that was understandable considering the fight one's mind had to put up to wake from a sleep spell without any outside assistance

"I'm here" Amelia began to move, to sit up, so he loosened his grip on her, but kept the princess within the circle of his arms. Perhaps his stone body wasn't the most comfortable resting place, but it was warmer than the floor.

Unaware of her position, Amelia looked around their cell, noting everything Zelgadiss and Lina had earlier. Her eyes alighted on the sleeping duo and she smiled in relief, before her eyebrows knit in confusion.

"Why are we here?"

"We're prisoners Amelia. This is a _cell_; does Saillune give its captives luxury treatment?" The princess glared at him, but deigned not to respond to that comment

"No, I mean, why are we _here_? We're not chained down, why hasn't Lina-san blown us, I mean, the wall, up yet?"

"Orihalcon"

"Oh. Ah…" suddenly realising why she was so warm and comfortable Amelia blushed and stared at her hands, leaving an awkward silence in the cell. They were friends, and in exceptional circumstances, but she was sure that otherwise this would be a huge violation of both of their personal spaces.

"I, **we**… were worried about you." The unusual statement grabbed her attention and she looked up again, only now noticing the exhausted look in Zel's eyes.

"Zelgadiss-san, how long have you been up?"

"Since I woke up here with Lina."

"But, he, that mage, said I'd been out for ten hours! They must have been chasing Gourry-san for at least another, and we used so much magic before, and trying to swim that lake!" She was there, with him, alive, he hadn't lost someone else he cared about –he was not about to go to sleep and miss it.

"I'm fine Amelia"

"You are not! You need to rest." If it wasn't for his restraining arms, she would have been on her feet pointing at him in full justice mode, as it was she had to settle for half-justice mode. "I, Amelia, won't allow you to wear yourself out! You're such a kind soul, to be up all night worrying over a comrade Zelgadiss-san! But a true warrior of Justice must take care of themselves to be better prepared to help those in need and crush darkness with the hammer of justice!"

Despite valiant efforts, Zel's body betrayed him and he yawned, his head starting to droop back against the wall as his eyes closed.

"Just so long as you don't need resurrecting while I'm as-leep."

"Resurrecting?" she questioned, confused

"We could… feel the resurrection spell… they used 'n you…all the 'ay down here… e'ne Gour…" exhaustion finally claiming him, Zelgadiss slipped into the blissful oblivion he had been craving earlier, leaving one very confused princess

"But you said there's Orihalcon… that's not possible."

* * *

"Poke me one more time and your life will not be worth living." 

"Good morning Lina-san." _That _was not the usual response to such a statement, and was certainly unexpected. Lina's eyes snapped open, expression brightening considerably at the sight of her protégé crouching before her.

"Amelia!" bolting upright, she pulled the younger girl in for a hug, cleverly disguised as playfully messing up her hair "Ha! I knew you'd be alright. The world _is_built on clichés after all!"

"What's a cliché?" asked a groggy voice Lina barely recognised as belonging to Gourry, and promptly decided it was too early to deal with him, in other words; she chose the ignore that question.

"Gourry! Look, Amelia! Amelia's here!"

Gourry looked blankly at the two wondering what all the fuss was about, until his brain kicked in and he clasped his hands together in a rare prayer of thanks

"Prince Phil won't kill me! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Amelia smiled at the swordsman, he was still a little pale from blood loss, and there was a mark on his arm where someone hadn't had the time to heal him properly. Now that he had cheered up though, the colour was returning to him and his arm didn't seem to be causing any bother.

"Daddy wouldn't do that Gourry-san. By the way, thank you for taking care of me out there."

"'thank you' whaddya mean 'thank you' Gourry saved your life! You should offer a reward" Lina exclaimed and began counting on her fingers "one hundred for inconvenience, another for carrying you, third for the worry… altogether then… fifty-three hundred thousand gold!"

"Hundred thousand?" gasped Gourry

"Where'd the fifty come from!" was what Amelia wanted to know

"Well, I know you're worth more than that to Saillune, but I figured we could knock the price down a bit since you're a friend."

"You can't put a price on lives like that Lina" said Gourry, in a serious voice "Lives are worthless."

"Uh, I think you mean priceless Gourry-san"

"Whatever, we can sort it out once we get out of here. Once we find a way to do _that _anyway."

"I don't think that will be too hard" said Amelia and both Lina and Gourry turned to look at her, sceptically and hopefully "When I woke up, Zelgadiss-san told me they'd drawn power from you using resurrection." Lina nodded and looked over at the sleeping Zel, she opened her mouth to wake him but Amelia raised a hand to stop her

"Please, He only went to sleep around dawn. Let him rest."

"Hm, alright then. So, how does that help us get out of here?"

"The magic required to draw energy from you wouldn't have been able to pass the orihalcon in this cell. That means there's a leek, which means there's a place with no orihalcon." Amelia smiled superiorly "And I can't believe you missed it Lina-san."

"What! Where is it?" instead of replying Amelia pointed straight upwards, and Gourry covered his ears in preparation for a justice speech before realising that was her answer, the ceiling. Lina grinned and rolled up her sleeves, a manic fire burning in her eyes

"Yes! Lets get out of here…! After breakfast." She flopped to the ground leaning against the wall with her arms behind her head "Wake me when it gets here." Amelia looked stunned

"What, but Lina-san-"

"Amelia, how many of those bags of supplies did you manage to rescue from the lake?"

"Well, none"

"Which means that all we have left are our emergency provisions until we can get to a small town that is 'not more than an oversized bandit camp' from a location we don't know exactly where is. We may as well leave on full stomachs." Amelia slid down into her own space

"I guess you're right."

"Of course, now get some rest, you'll need it!"

Three hours past dawn Steven entered the room again, bringing bread, water and this time a little fruit as well. Not a word was said, although he did nod toward Amelia as he handed the food through, and left again.

"Gourry, wake Zel, Amelia dish the food out, once we've eaten we aren't waiting around." Lina ordered, munching on her portion as she looked at the ceiling studiously. The others ate together in a more relaxed manor, bringing Zelgadiss up-to-date on the escape plan, such as it was.

"Alrighty then!" Lina announced once they'd finished "lets get out of here! When we're out, get your stuff and start running. _Darkness beyond twili-_"

Gourry, Zelgadiss and Amelia all piled on top of the sorceress, bring her crashing to the floor with three hands clamped over her mouth.

"Not the Dragon Slave!"

"Do you want the roof to collapse on us Lina-san!"

"Geerifluff uofly neef ayth!" came Lina's muffled reply as they retreated "Okay no Dragon Slave, stand back then." Muttering a short incantation under her breath, Lina felt the magic start to gather between her hands. When it was ready she fired at the ceiling, near where the bars joined it "_Damu Bras_!"

"Déjà vu" Amelia murmured to herself as masonry started to fall from above, fortunately Zelgadiss had had the presence of mind to put a shield up once Lina cast.

Causing a resounding impact that reverberated through their bones the orihalcon bars separated from their mount and crashed to the floor in a deafening noise that would certainly have alerted their captors to the escape if Lina's spell hadn't already, having blown a hole through to the room above.

Gourry was the first to move, grabbing his sword in one hand and Zel's gear in the other he tossed it over to the chimera, who was already levitating toward the next floor to guard their escape.

Lina picked up her own gear, bundled hastily in her cloak and grabbed Gourry by the arm, thankful he didn't protest as she flew them both through the ceiling, Amelia by her side having picked up her cloak and pouch bag. Just as they reached the next floor Zel blew a hole in the outside wall, they landed running and kept going, heading into the forest. They had no sense of direction, but they were together. They were free.

Michael burst through the cell door moments later and followed their path through the ceiling and as far as the wall where he still had sight of the group when a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Let them go." A young woman stood behind him, silver priest's staff in hand, blue-lilac eyes shining out from beneath a curtain of mahogany hair –not red but not entirely brunette either.

"But Ivan-sama said-"

"Leave Ivan to me, let them go."

"Hey boss-sama!" The two turned to see Steven in the doorway, sword over shoulder, battlelight in his eyes "Sorry to interrupt but we have uninvited guests." The young woman's expression darkened

"What a nuisance. So much for letting them go. Abandon the post, hopefully we can catch up and warn them before Duvliyn's lot get their hands on them. Steven, guard the rear, hold as long as you can."

"Aye ma'am"

"Michael, lets go" With a nod the mage began running beside her as Steven took a defensive position in the gap in the wall, a grin on his face.

"Gourry was it? I hope we both live long enough for a rematch on more even terms, though I've a feeling you'd knock the stuffing out of me."

_We're free! We're free! But hey, hey, what's all this going on here? Who's this new girl and who's after THEM? …Is there any chance we can stay out of it?_

_Next time on Slayers HEART: Kripes! Hunting the hunters?_


	11. Kripes! Hunting the Hunters?

Kripes! Hunting the hunters?

Gourry ran.

Gourry ran so hard and fast his lungs were burning for air and his legs were practically on fire. Zelgadiss was in the lead, chimiric speed keeping him ahead, stone body crushing nettles and brambles aside to clear the path for everyone else. Amelia followed him; being more adept than Lina at jumping over rocks and ducking low branches –surprisingly so. Lina was next and Gourry kept the rear, constantly checking for pursuit.

He was good at that sort of thing; and enjoyed it, but really only when it wasn't truly needed. Because if it was then they were in some kind of trouble.

Lina stumbled but he ploughed on, picking her up and carrying her with him, ignoring her struggle to get lose so he could focus on staying upright and any threat from behind.

Realising that she wasn't going to get free anytime soon, Lina covered her blush and caught her breath, calling their charge to an end.

Zelgadiss skidded to a halt and before he even looked behind him cast an arm out to catch Amelia as she threw herself to the side to avoid crashing into him. Once she (and Lina) had been set properly to their feet (though Amelia promptly collapsed to her knees) they went about the vital business of getting their breath back while Lina watched their backs.

"So" Zel gasped "What now?"

Lina looked at her friends. Zelgadiss was standing, but his chest was heaving rapidly, he seemed the most recovered though. Amelia remained on her knees, trying to force air down her throat which only seemed to want to close up with the effort, and Gourry was bent over, leaning on his hands against a tree, golden locks hiding his face from her completely. She didn't feel much better either.

"We need a safe place to rest before we do anything. Which means getting out of here"

"We've left a pretty clear trail to this point. If we move slower we can cover our tracks and get our breath back. Then maybe try and get a view of where we are" Lina nodded assent to Zel's suggestion and checked on the other two. They were both still breathing heavily, but seemed much better than a moment ago.

"If they manage to catch up with us, it's probably best not to use magic, since we know they're more than able to counter it. Gourry, Zel, if we're challenged, you're the best with swords and can attack, I'll play defensive and Amelia can hang back and heal us okay?"

Everyone nodded, and once Zel and Lina had agreed on what direction north was they struck out, hoping to find the town they had been heading for before they took the plunge into the lake.

After ten or so minutes of walking, Lina became aware to the tense atmosphere surrounding the group. The young princess in particular was jumping at any shadow that crossed their path, which was understandable considering how close she'd been to… Lina couldn't even think about it. Leaving Zel to lead she fell back to walk beside Amelia and gave her a small smile before focusing ahead again, beginning in a serious tone that whole hopefully commandeer the princess's full attention.

"Amelia, who knew you were going to look for the Heart of Iris?" Amelia blinked

"Not a lot of people. Only Daddy and Uncle Christopher knew at home… and only the Mayor and the Duke's representative in Alba knew why I was there. But then… Xellos found out… but he said it was _you _looking for it Lina-san." Up a head of them Zel scoffed

"Humph, remember that rabbit in Krimson? If Xellos could get information from it then there's probably any number of other creatures who could have overheard us at any point. _Beast_-priest indeed"

"Now, now Zelgadiss-san, I do hope you don't mean that in any derogatory terms" Xellos said, as he appeared suddenly beside them, eyes opened in a threat "I would _hate_ to have to destroy you."

Zel snarled, but held his tongue as Lina stepped forward and grabbed the trickster by the collar, pulling him down to eye level.

"I ought to let Amelia lecture you on love, truth and justice for the rest of eternity after skipping out on us like that! And if you don't have an airtight explanation or anything useful for us, I'll help her do it!" Checking her temper, she let him go and stood arms akimbo fixing him with a glare that promised she would live up her words if he was going to disappoint them "Although I doubt you'd come back without good reason."

"You know me too well Lina-san!" Xellos chirruped, smiling again "Firstly the town you're heading for is that way" he said, pointing them in a direction a few degrees further west than they had been heading "Secondly, the group that attacked you are entirely human, there's no trace of any Dark Lord or lesser Mazoku involved with them"

"_That's_ why you left?" yelled Zel "Afraid on stepping on some other mazoku's pet project?"

"No" Lina said calmly "He was just making sure he was on the winning side. If there's no Mazoku interest in this beyond whether or not we can find anything relating to Iris, then Xellos is free to help us if he wants, otherwise he might be starting another internal feud between the dark lords, and after what happened to Gaav I doubt they can afford it with Hellmaster gone now too."

"Very intuitive Lina-san!" Lina's gazed narrowed in on him appraisingly

"So, are you going to jump out on us again, or are you staying?"

"I will have other business to attend to from time to time, but for the most part I'll be staying."

"I don't suppose we have any choice" Zel murmured to himself as Amelia gave him a sympathetic pat. Gourry just shrugged, glad at least that none of the really bad mazoku were after them.

"Well then, let's get on. If we're lucky we'll get there in time for a late lunch."

As they continued, the forest slowly gave way to plains and fields, tree roots and bramble turned into a semblance of a track, and eventually a clear road, however, with roads came-

"Well lookie what we have here."

-bandits

"Two mercenaries and two sorceresses minding a single priest? This guy must be carrying the collection for the poor" Xellos raised an eyebrow at the comment, though inside he was laughing hysterically.

A quick headcount determined there were a dozen of them blocking the path. Not a problem for Lina, a single Dill Brand would clear the road. She just wasn't sure it was worth the bother.

"Look guy's I'm really not in the mood today. Get out of our way and no-one gets hurt." The bandits sniggered and their seeming leader, a well built and oddly clean man (for a bandit) with a shock of red hair and an evil looking axe thrust through his belt stood forward.

"You have no idea who you're talking to, do you little girl?"

A vein on Lina's forehead started throbbing and the others, Xellos included, took this as a sign to stand well back.

"…_crimson beyond twilight…_" Lina chanted, before releasing her spell "_Fireball!_"

When the dust and smoke had cleared, the leader was still standing there, completely unharmed. One of the others behind him dropped his arm, dismissing the Balus Wall he had summoned. Lina blinked in surprise

"_Smart_ bandits! Well there's a first!" The leader smirked and raised his own hand, the spell gathering there was certainly no fireball

"_Blast Ash!"_

Lina yelped and dove out of the way, feeling the spell pass inches over her. It collided with Amelia and Zelgadiss's hastily drawn up shield, pushing against it for a moment before dissipating. Lina sprang back to her feet; suddenly twelve seemed like a huge number.

The initial test of skill and strength over, the bandits separated into two groups in a co-ordinated move. Five blocked the road ahead but ready to jump in if needed; the other six joined their leader in offensive positions. Lina turned slightly sideways to address the group.

"Gourry, Zel, with me, Xellos take out the five at the back, Amelia defensive spells." Before they could agree, Lina had the first spell ready formed in hand "_Balus Rod!_"

Lina charged straight down the middle, breaking the attacking force up with the flailing whip and taking on the red-haired leader. Zel and Gourry darted left and right, each ending up locking swords with two bandits, Amelia had her hands full stopping errant spells from hitting anyone while defending herself against the one bandit who seemed determined to fry _her_.

Xellos had it easiest, simply phasing in behind the back line he knocked each over the head in turn rendering them unconscious, or dead, Lina didn't really have time to check just so long as they weren't a problem.

After only five minutes Lina's fight was at a standstill. Each of them had landed a few hits, but nothing significant, and neither would give the other enough time to cast anything large enough to possibly end it. The closest that came was when a Daug Haut from Zel unintentionally interrupted the bandit forcing him to dodge rather than counter.

An idea came to Lina and she cast her arm out swiftly "_Dolph Strash!" _Had her opponent been any slower the spell would have cut him clean in half, as it was he was able to move to avoid a direct impact so that it only sliced his side enough to draw blood. Lina cursed and prepared another spell when help arrived

"_Visfarank!" _The bandit who had been attacking Amelia found himself sailing backwards and colliding with his boss, bringing them both down. Leaping to the top of one of the stalagmites Zelgadiss has created earlier she pointed down at them in a fury, cape flying behind her.

"Evil doers!" she began and everyone stopped to look at her, those who knew what was coming could feel the sweat already forming "Know this; you may be able to live with your wrong doings but I shall never forgive you! Repent of your evil ways and embrace life or prepare to face the hammer of justice!"

She jumped from the top, landing on the unlucky soul she had just sent flying and somersaulted off him finally stopping next to Lina, who merely glanced across at her

"Nice landing."

"Thanks Lina-san!"

"Enough of this!" snapped the bandit leader "Give me a shield" he ordered one of his still standing men and began to chant, as the defensive aura meant he couldn't be interrupted.

"_Source of all power, crimson fire burning bright!" _Lina started, was that what she though it was? "_Gather in my hand and become an inferno!_"

"Everyone! Run!"

Taking Amelia's hand Lina began legging it along the road Xellos had cleared, following his lead, Zel and Gourry soon catching up with them.

"_Burst Flare!_"

But then so was their imminent fiery death.

"This isn't fair! I'm too young, too pretty and too talented to be toast!" Lina wailed then let out a surprised noise as Amelia turned and yanked her hand away, causing her to loose balance.

"_Flow break!"_

The Burst Flare disappeared instantly, and the road ahead was clear. Their retreat would have been complete, if Amelia had been the only one casting the spell. Words her sister would certainly have punished Lina for knowing sprang to mind as she noticed Michael and his companion approach, the glow of his spell wearing off leaving only Amelia's.

The gang slipped into battle positions once again but the lady with lilac eyes spoke first.

"We mean you no harm! I suggest you run, leave this lot to us."

"What the heck is going on here? How are we supposed to believe that?" Lina yelled

"Trust us!" Michael called, his eyes then meeting with Amelia's "The town ahead has a guard now, tell them the phoenix sent you and they'll let you through!"

Enraged, the bandit leader rushed forward, axe at the ready, but was blocked by the bar of the Priestess's staff.

"Lina-san, whether they mean us any harm or not, this is probably the best chance we'll have to get out of here." Lina nodded agreement to the words Xellos whispered and signalled to everyone to get running again.

Springing back from his adversary, the leader called out to their retreating backs

"Hey, Little Girl! The name's Duvliyn. Liam Duvliyn, remember it, it'll be the last thing you hear in this life!" he promised using blood from the wound she had caused in his side to make a mark on his forehead before turning back to the Priestess "and you _Phoenix-sama_, can burn in hell!"

_Just what in the world is going on here? First Michael tries to drown us, and then he saves us from these clowns! Who are the bad guys in this picture? _

_Next time on Slayers HEART; Luxury! Rest and recuperation!_

…_well thank goodness for that._


	12. Luxury! Rest and Recuperation!

_Last time we jumped out of the frying pan and straight into the fire! Escaping the cell only to run into a group of incredibly well organised bandits__, what luck! Are we finally clear of it all? Or are we still in their shadow?_

Luxury! Rest and Recuperation!

Lina woke up, feeling decidedly more human than she had in the last few days. It was a wonder what a decent night's sleep in a good bed could do for you. Once they had cleared the battlefield they had kept running until they finally came across the small town they had spent the night in. The town that, despite earlier warnings, had turned out to be much nicer and infinitely more law abiding than any bandit camp ever was.

They had had a few moments of panic when the town guard had refused to let them in, and Gourry had to physically restrain Lina from Dragon Slaving their refuge into dust before Amelia decided to trust Michael's advice and say 'the Phoenix' had sent them this way.

After that they had been instantly admitted and directed to the nicest inn in the town, at a discounted rate –four rooms for the price of two.

Lina dressed and began brushing her hair out. It was too early in the morning (and more importantly, still before breakfast) for her to try and figure out what that meant. If Michael, Steven, that lady and this Phoenix person were on their side, or simply common enemies against Duvliyn and his bandits –**they** were definitely enemies- and what the connection to Iris was.

A knock on the door alerted her to one of her friend's presence and her protector's voice floated through to her.

"Hey, Lina, you up? They're setting up the breakfast buffet; it's opening in two minutes!" Opening the door she beamed at the swordsman, and began racing him down the corridor

"What are we waiting about here for then? Let's go!"

* * *

"_Cold hearted sorcerer-swordsman, you're a_ _cold hearted sorcerer-swordsman, a cold hearted sorcerer-swordsman"_

Zelgadiss wasn't a complete control-freak although he did like to think he had _some_ influence into what was going on around him. Over the past day however and again this morning, he was beginning to remember why he spent so much time travelling alone. Yes, the company was nice but…

He didn't like the feeling of being worried for people he cared about. When alone, he could _indulge_ in wondering about what his friends were doing and a little concern over their welfare from time-to-time, but when he was directly exposed to their presence, or a particular lack of, it wasn't a feeling he cherished.

"_Cold hearted sorcerer-swordsman, cold hearted sorcerer-swordsman, just a cold hearted sorcerer-swordsman"_

Lately all he seemed to be doing was worry.

Amelia hadn't turned up for breakfast and she hadn't been in her room when he checked.

"_**Cold hearted sorcerer-swordsman**__! You're a_ _cold hearted sorcerer-swordsman, a cold hearted sorcerer-swordsman, __nothing more__!"_

And he _had_ checked. Thoroughly

He felt like hitting his head off the table, repeatedly. "_Cold hearted sorcerer-swordsman,_ _cold hearted sorcerer-swordsman, cold hearted sorcerer-swordsman…" _he repeated the mantra to himself, trying to push the feeling aside. It didn't help that Xellos was sitting opposite, grinning.

With a satisfied burp Lina pushed her plate away, Gourry, having already finished, was stretching out before relaxing into his chair. The sorceress signalled one of the waiters over, who left them relieved that she'd told him to put the bill on the tab for her room, instead of asking when the buffet table would be re-stocked (again)

"So" she began "This town seems to be pretty safe. Unless anyone has any objections, I vote we stay here a day or so and see what we can find out about Duvliyn, this Phoenix person and just what the heck is going on before we move out."

"Hadn't we better wait for Amelia before we say that?" Zelgadiss was thankful it was Gourry who asked. Lina waved her hand dismissively

"We can catch her up later, she won't mind."

"I dunno" Gourry looked thoughtful for a change "I think that coconut really got to her, she should have been down by now." Xellos raised an eyebrow

"Coconut?"

"Concussion" Zel grunted "She wasn't in her room earlier"

Lina looked around the table and sighed. When Gourry was thoughtful and Zel was worried it simply wasn't possible to ignore the situation. She wasn't really ready to talk about everything with the princess herself yet still feeling slightly guilty for being initially more concerned over Gourry. However this needed to be over with so they could move on; with Amelia happy and cheerful, instead of jumping at shadows.

"Okay, fine I'll go talk to her."

"You know where she is?" Zel asked, surprised.

"Isn't it obvious?" seeing the blank looks on their faces she rolled her eyes "Oh for Pete's sake, you guys are hopeless!"

* * *

A quick levitation was all it took and soon Lina set foot on the roof tiles. Her boots clinked against the fire-hardened clay as she walked the slight slope to the top. A cursory glance determined the tallest building in the area; another levitation took her there, and she paused, admiring the view briefly before sitting down next to the princess

"Good morning Lina-san."

"Morning" She replied and handed her a freshly baked roll, Amelia looked up in confusion "I already ate" she explained

"Ah, I see, thanks Lina-san"

They sat in silence for a while, the only sounds being from a nearby songbird and the occasional crunch as Amelia took a bite. The morning sun was rather warm at this time of year, but up on the roof there was a refreshing breeze that stopped them from over-heating. Eventually Lina broke the peace

"So, what's bothering you Amelia?" Silence reigned for a moment longer before Amelia let out a soft sigh and curled her knees up to her chest.

"When I woke up, Michael was asking me why we were here and that kind of thing. He also… he also let slip that they were trying to stop us from doing _something_ they'd been preventing for the last thousand years… Now that I think about it, it seemed really important to him that we go home, not just stay in that cell… and then saving us from those bandits… is he really our enemy?" Lina looked across at the princess, disbelief written plainly on her face.

"Stick to truth and justice, Amelia. You're a _terrible_ liar. That's the one thing we **all** want to know just now. What's really bothering you?" Amelia twiddled her fingers nervously before swallowing and beginning with some hesitation

"It's just… It's my fault!" she declared, fear, remorse and desperation in her voice and eyes "If I hadn't found those stupid notes and asked Daddy to let me go, you wouldn't have been dragged into this! You and Zelgadiss-san almost drowned, Gourry-san could have collapsed from blood-loss and I was too out of it to help him. And Zelgadiss-san stayed up all night worried about me. And then, I remembered how it felt when we thought we'd lost you and Gourry-san in the sea of chaos, if you felt anything like that when I was --when I was… I'm so sorry!"

Lina took a moment to process this, before lying down on the sun-warmed tiles, nonchalantly, arms behind her head.

"Is that all?"

"What? Lina-san I-"

"Look Amelia, Gourry and I would have gotten ourselves into some scrape somewhere with or without your help. Zel won't admit it, but he'd worry about you if you were in the very centre of Saillune, surrounded by wards and a full compliment of guards… Okay, maybe that _is_ taking things a bit too far but you get the point. None of this is your fault."

Amelia looked unconvinced so the sorceress decided to continue "As for worrying about you during the whole resurrection thing, we were more worried when you didn't show up for breakfast. We know you're tough Amelia, like you said, we've been through worse things together, but missing a meal? Now _that's_ unheard of!" She winked and despite herself Amelia smiled, and then began to giggle. Soon both were laughing heartily, the sound drifting down across the square and through an open window, reassuring the guy's that all was well, and, to Zel's great pleasure causing Xellos to disappear on 'emergency business'.

"Thank you Lina-san." Amelia said, giving the sorceress a quick hug, which was thankfully a lot softer than Lina knew she was capable of

"No worries, just promise me you won't hang on to things like that, okay? It's bad enough when Zel has one of his moods without having to cheer you up as well!"

"Promise"

"Good, now, we're going to stay a while to try and figure out who's trying to kill us this time, or more importantly why. But first I think I'm going to have a nice hot bath and stay in it until I look like I'm at least eighty." Amelia laughed along with her friend

"That sounds like a plan" she agreed

* * *

By the time noon rolled around everyone felt better for having had the morning to themselves and once lunch had been devoured (and the waiters had finished betting on who would eat more, the petite sorceress or the blond swordsman) it was time for a council of war. As soon as things became serious again, Zel noted, Xellos's 'emergency business' concluded itself.

"Alright guys! Before we go looking for anything new let's look at what we know already." Lina began pragmatically "First, thanks to Xellos we know there are no Mazoku involved in this, which means we were right about the magic out here being developed to the same level as the barrier kingdoms naturally… although if that's such a good thing is debatable. Second, when we were first captured and when Amelia woke up we were questioned on our intentions, specifically towards Iris."

"That gives Amelia's information a lot more credibility" Zel mused, and seeing the princess's indignant face added "Not that we didn't believe it before Amelia, but we can be certain that _something_ of Iris exists here now"

"Right" Lina agreed "That brings us down to all these people, or those two groups, Michael, Steven, the priestess and the 'Phoenix' and Duvliyn and his bandits."

"That Duv person, he's not just a common bandit, or Lina could have blasted him senseless, he's pretty powerful too, to hold his own against Lina for that long."

"_Yes_ Gourry, _thank you_" Lina gritted out

"Considering the lack of concern he showed for his follower's welfare, I'd say he probably has a lot more of them. Enough that he wasn't bothered if those we fought survived or not" Xellos chipped in, everyone frowned at this but couldn't deny the logic in it, twelve had been enough how many more could he have?

"I don't think Michael-san and the others are our enemies." Amelia stated quietly, looking at the table, yet aware that every head had turned to look at her "Lina-san and Zelgadiss-san weren't hurt when they were captured, and if Gourry-san and I had surrendered I don't think we would have been either. Then saving us from the bandits and telling us how to get into this town. They could have just re-captured us."

"It's possible they have nowhere to keep us, now that we've destroyed that base" Said Zel, but Lina shook her head

"No, I agree with Amelia. What bothers me most is the Phoenix, whoever he is has a whole lot of respect around here, if the discount I got is anything to go by. Although, I don't think **our** wellbeing is their first priority either."

"When I fought that guy on the beach, he wasn't trying to finish me off, just wear me out waiting for my attack and defending" Conversely observant about a fight, Gourry scratched his head to remember the details "And he only _did_ attack Amelia as a counter."

"Okay, so Duvliyn is after our blood and the Phoenix lot are allies at least as far as fighting _him_ is concerned" Lina decided "All we need now is more information on the Phoenix, and Iris too. Looks like it's time to split up guys. Zel, Amelia, see if you can find a library or a bookshop and look for any local information about Iris. Gourry and I will ask about Duvliyn and the Phoenix, Xellos got any more 'contacts' around here?"

"Not on this side of the barrier." Lina grinned, an evil grin that worried the mazoku

"Then I have just the job for you."

* * *

Lina and Gourry wandered back through the town to the guards out-post. Seeing as they had let them in only when Amelia mentioned the Phoenix, Lina decided it was a good a place as any to start, considering they knew of him.

"Excuse me!" She hailed one of the guards, an older man, probably in his fifties or sixties who wore the faded scars of experience with an understated confidence.

"Yes? Oh, you're some of those travellers who came through last night. What can I do for you young lady?"

"I was looking for some information, we're not from around here and I wondered if you would answer some questions."

"Go ahead then, I'll answer what I can." Lina nodded and began explaining, deciding that a slightly edited version of the truth would be least suspicious, with her best innocent expression in place she began

"We've been out exploring since the barrier fell, hadn't had much trouble until we came out of the forest south of here, we met a group of bandits on the road –although for bandits they were highly organised" The guard frowned at this "We decided to run when these two people, a priest and a priestess came and took the bandits on. The priest told us to run this way and mention the Phoenix to you; I was just wondering if you could explain what the heck is going on and who all these people are?"

"I suppose I can answer that, but before I do, the bandits, was their leader a redhead wielding an axe and black magic? And the Priest and Priestess; was the priest blond with green eyes and she a deep brunette with lilac eyes?"

"Yeah, that's them"

"The Bandit's name is Duvliyn, I suggest you run sharpish if you see him again. We're not entirely sure what he's after, only that he's been looking for it for the past five years and axing anything in his way."

"Five years?" Lina interrupted "Sorry, I'm just checking, this town has been here a while then, before the barrier fell?"

"There are a few in these parts. Recently a few of our own have left to explore the inside lands, just as you have come to explore around here. This town was made by those trapped on the wrong side of the barrier when it was raised, away from their families"

"How sad" Gourry put in, but the guard just smiled

"It was a long time ago m'boy, they're all with their loved ones now. Anyway, the two that saved you, that'd be Michael and Jess. Come from a temple nor'east of here, not sure where exactly. They've been opposing Duvliyn for as long as he's been terrorising folk, trying to stop him hurting too many people and picking up the pieces after him. And stopping him getting ahead in whatever it is he wants"

"I see…" Lina intoned thoughtfully, then "What about the Phoenix?"

"Ah, now that's a story I'll gladly tell. The Phoenix is Jess; she was born here, poor thing was frail and sickly most of her infancy. Her parents were lucky that a healer was passing through just when they needed him most and their little girl survived. When she was old enough to understand what had happened, Jess began studying white magic, the resurrection spell in particular, so she could give other people the chance she had. She got so good at it we nicknamed her Phoenix, one who rises and raises from the ashes."

"That makes sense… alright, I just have one more question." a deadly serious tone in her voice

"Yes?"

"Where's the best place to eat around here?"

The guard barely managed to avoid falling over in shock before directing the duo to a restaurant a few streets over. Lina cheered and started running toward it, Gourry hot on her heels.

"Once we find this place and sample the menu we'll head back to the inn and wait for Zel and Amelia and see what they've found out over dinner!"

"Hey, Lina, I have a question" Lina sighed, slowing down as they rounded the corner to the street they were heading for "_please don't let this be a stupid question"_

"Yes Gourry?"

"Where did you send Xellos?" Lina grinned, the same evil grin she'd worn when giving the trickster his orders.

* * *

Several miles away, under a few hundred feet of water, Xellos stalked the lake floor, looking for any signs of the packs the group had lost in their plunge.

He had always suspected, but this was proof, that some higher being was constantly thinking of the most mundane tasks to humiliate him with, and ensuring they trickled down the chain into the thoughts of those around him

Being reduced to Lina's lackey like this…

Perhaps karma was real after all

_Refreshed and revitalised with a lot of new information to sort through we're ready to find out what the others have discovered in the library and put it all together! But Zel's being moody again and there's only one person who can fix this mess…!_

_Oh no, don't tell me it's –_

_Next time on Slayers HEART: Mission Accepted! Code-name Gourry?_


	13. Mission Accepted! Codename Gourry?

_Hey everyone! Good day? We're doing great! Although there seems to be something a little odd going on with-_

_Gourry, what the hell are you doing?_

_I'm doing the introduction Lina_

_Yes, I can see that, WHY?_

_Well, you weren't here and I figure after everything going on recently you kinda needed your beauty sleep-_

_FIREBALL!_

Mission accepted! Code-name Gourry?

_My name's Gourry, Gourry Gabriev__. I've been travelling with Lina and the others for... well, a long time now. Long enough to know when something's up. I think something big happened today, but I'm not sure what exactly. _

_I first realised something was wrong when Amelia ran by me crying. Amelia's a sweet kid; more likely to grin and bear whatever's wrong in her world than cry about it. I don't think I've ever seen her cry before that actually. I –know- she has, with the whole thing about her Dad a while ago, but I never saw it. Anyway where was I? Right, right, Amelia was crying so I figured something had seriously gotten to her. It all started out like this;_

Hesitantly, Zel moved towards the princess and gently-

-_whoops! Sorry, wrong part. It started like __this_;

Amelia sighed and closed the book she'd been poring over. Three hours, and she hadn't found anything except for a more detailed map of the local area –which she had already copied out, compared to her old map, and annotated. Not a mention of Iris, except in the lists of Sages and occasionally in some magic lore that wasn't helpful.

Carefully pushing her chair back so it didn't scrape along the floor, she went in search of Zelgadiss, in the hopes he'd found something more useful. The library wasn't particularly big, but it took her a while to find him, having been looking in the wrong places.

"Zelgadiss-san?" she was surprised, and slightly perturbed at finding him _here_ "Weren't you supposed be looking in the artefact and temples sections?" she left the obvious "instead of in the curses/cures section" unsaid.

After a prolonged silence she tried again "Zelgadiss-san?"

"_Cold hearted sorcerer-swordsman, cold hearted sorcerer-swordsman"_

"I'm a little busy just now Amelia" he replied carelessly, without looking up. Annoyed, Amelia crossed her arms and glared at him

"Zelgadiss-san! We're supposed to be looking for information on how to get to the temple and about Iris! Lina-san was counting on us to find something, we can't let her down –it'd be unjust. Besides that, how are we supposed to move on if we're not even sure where we're going?"

"'Besides that' you say? Look, I don't really care about Iris or the Heart; all I'm interested in is my cure, you should know that by now." Zelgadiss glared right back "if I can find it here and not have to continue on this… _venture_ with you lot then all the better." Stung, Amelia stepped back; he really didn't want to be with her-with them?

"Z-Zelgadiss-san?"

""_Cold hearted sorcerer-swordsman, cold hearted sorcerer-swordsman"_

"Like I said, I'm a little busy just now Amelia"

Hardening her expression the princess turned on her heel and began storming back to the inn "Fine then, I'll leave you to it." Something in her voice must have conveyed her hurt and betrayal to him over the feigned anger, as just as she reached the great oaken doors leading outside his chair clattered back and he called her name.

Amelia ignored him and, as soon as she was through the doors and out of his sight, broke into a run along the street. If _he_ didn't want to spend time with h-them, then she was going to make it easy for him. And serve the fool right.

Zelgadiss cursed. A hollow feeling in his gut alerting him that his self-induced solitude wasn't really what he wanted, despite appearances, and there was no need to punish Amelia for caring.

Of all things, for _caring_; about the mission, her friends –about him

He hollered after her again, ignoring the dirty look the librarian gave him as he breezed past the front desk; they had been the only people there anyway.

Spotting her moving back to the inn he took off after her. Apologising wasn't a concept Zelgadiss could claim to be entirely familiar with, especially over other people's bruised feelings; but he could at least explain he hadn't _meant_ it.

Amelia was nowhere in sight when he reached the inn, but Lina (who was sitting at a table with Xellos, going through what seemed to be their considerably waterlogged packs) caught his eye with an arch look and gestured over her shoulder to the stairs. He rushed by, not daring to even look at Xellos as he passed for fear of what he would see. The mazoku would be having a field day with this.

He was so intent on not looking that he practically ran into Gourry and the taller man put a hand on his shoulder as he steadied himself.

"Whoa Zel, what's the hurry?"

"Not now Gourry" he replied hastily and the swordsman stepped aside and frowned after him as he took to the stairs three at a time. First Amelia, now Zel; what was going on?

"Amelia! Amelia, wait, listen!"

Finally upstairs, Zel made up the distance between them and grabbed Amelia's hand with the intention of spinning her around to face him properly. Amelia had other ideas however. She stopped suddenly and pulled her arm forward. Inertia being what it was the chimera kept moving.

Before he could react and stop, Zelgadiss felt himself being rolled over Amelia's back. A magically enforced elbow to his gut knocked the wind from him and the princess, never letting go of his hand, pulled the fingers back as she twisted his wrist round in a more painful submission lock than he had ever had the misfortune to experience. The inevitable impact with the ground forced what was left of his breath from his lungs and he found himself staring up into her hurt face and tear-filled eyes. It was only then he realised how much his remark had truly cut her.

With a barely chocked back sob, Amelia threw his hand away forcefully and ran on. Not stopping to catch his breath the chimera followed after her, but her door slammed in his face just as he arrived, locks both magical and mechanical bolting him out.

Zel's usually dignified posture slumped as he closed his eyes and lent his forehead against the door, completely and utterly defeated. "_Great, just great…"_

Downstairs, Xellos made to rise but without even looking up from the bag she was sorting through Lina stopped him

"Leave it Xellos."

"But Lina-san, I-"

"_Leave it_."

Thwarted, Xellos sank back into his seat and tried to content himself with just feeling the negative emotions from a distance.

At least there were plenty of them.

_Once Zel had gone by me I figured he probably said something that upset Amelia. He has a habit of doing that. Not deli- delib- on purpose but I don't think he always realises the effect his words are going to have on other people. Usually Lina deals with keeping moral up, but she was busy and I thought Zel was more likely to open up to me than Lina. So I decided it was time for a talk, man-to-man… or man-to-chimera… __or whatever_

Gourry's heavy footfalls alerted Zel to his approach and he quickly turned round and stepped away from the door, blushing. Mercifully Gourry didn't seem to notice, or at least, didn't comment, instead he indicated outside.

"Hey Zel, you busy? Feel like a sparring match?" There was something in his voice, a distinctly un-Gourry-like quality that said it wasn't a question.

"No," Zel smiled sadly at the irony "no, I'm not busy" he replied and followed his friend outside.

The street wasn't the best place to fight, so the two made their way to the town gate, signalling to the guard they would be back shortly and stopped within view of the wall. Gourry drew the Blast Blade and took a defensive stance. Taking the hint, Zelgadiss drew his own blade and attacked, lunging forward.

Gourry's stalwart defence pushed Zelgadiss back off him and he watched his friend stumble back with observant eyes. Once Zel realised the swordsman wasn't going to counter-attack he lunged again. With an expert flick of the wrist Gourry wrenched Zel's sword from his grip and sent it flying from them.

Now Gourry pressed forward and Zelgadiss rolled to the side to grasp his sword. He remained on one knee as the attacks kept coming, clashing against his blade with enough force to send vibrations through his skin and down his bones.

Finally it ended and Gourry sheathed his sword. He frowned apparently dissatisfied with his still kneeling friend.

"What did you say to her?" Zelgadiss frowned back and got to his feet, folding his arms defensively.

"What makes you think I said anything? Maybe she's upset at something she read."

"Body language." Zel's eyes narrowed

"What do you mean?" Gourry sighed and sat down, crossing his legs he leant an elbow on his knee and rested his chin in that cupped hand.

"If Amelia had just read something, you'd be angry that she was upset at something like that –unless it was _really_ big. If you were angry there'd be more strength in your attacks and you'd be too proud to stay on your knees. Too proud to defend actually, considering you don't really have to." Gourry righted his head and pointed a finger at the chimera, his eyes decidedly harsher than Zel could remember seeing them "But, your attacks were weak and predictable. If you'd put any effort into it you could have read the pattern in my attack and defended better. So I think you're feeling guilty, which is distracting you."

"You got all that from five minutes of swordplay?" Zelgadiss asked, impressed.

"That and Amelia was crying." Zel's shoulders slumped and his head fell forward

"Right, that… well I… I told her I was too busy looking for my cure to help her with Iris and… that as soon as I had it I could be away from you all… maybe not in so many words but that was the gist of it." Gourry watched the deject chimera for a moment before standing and clamping a hand on the younger man's shoulder. Zelgadiss looked up hopefully.

"You're in big trouble." Zel's head slumped forward again.

"I knew that!" he replied sharply. Gourry grinned and moved back to his position on the floor, Zel followed sitting opposite. The swordsman scratched his head for a moment before delivering his verdict

"It's alright to care about people Zelgadiss."

Zel blinked and his eyes narrowed in confusion, before replying with an indignant tone

"I _know _that"

"Really? Because every time we get close you push us away again. We were really, _really_ worried about each other yesterday and the day before. Now it's like you're trying to make up for it by being cold."

Zel remained silent as he digested Gourry's thoughts. He knew what the swordsman said was true, but couldn't find any means of justifying or defending himself. Eventually his head sunk in acceptance and Gourry continued

"If you keep that up and push us away every time you get worried, you'll end up lonely." Gourry smiled reassuringly "But if you explain to Amelia that you're upset and you do want her, all of us, around then you'll know we've always got your back. You just need to find a way of explaining to her."

"What" Zel asked, deadpan "be all teary and clingy and hug her and rave about justice?"

"If that's what it takes." Zel sent a glare Gourry's way which had the potential to make grown men wet themselves, Gourry only smiled "Hey, it has to be less painful than paying Lina's tab anytime _she's_ upset." Zel looked away, frowning as Gourry continued

"You need to take care of your friends Zelgadiss. If that means letting go of your pride for a minute and accepting that you do care for people beside yourself then is that so much?" Zel was silent for a moment longer before sighing and looking back to the swordsman

"I'm tempted to take insult at you comparing this to one of Lina's fits. You're right though. The thing is, how? She's shut herself off and even if I could get in what do I do, what do I say?"

"Oh I don't know. Climb to her window with a rose or serenade her from the ground or something" Gourry said standing up and offering a hand to help Zel up. Taking the offer, Zelgadiss raised a brow at the swordsman's comment.

"Roses, serenades? What kind of cheap romance do you think this is?"

"The kind that ends with the two of you alone in her room."

Zelgadiss started, flushed and scanned Gourry's mask of perfect innocence for any sign of a grin or a joke, finding none he blushed more.

"You can't mean what I think you do." Gourry shrugged

"That depends what you think I mean. Don't worry, so long as you keep the noise down no-one else will ever know." Now he could tell Gourry was fighting to keep the smile from his face. He let his hand drift back to his sword and growled

"Gabriev. Start running." Gourry laughed aloud and gingerly, so not to cut or scratch himself, ruffled Zel's wire hair.

"Don't make threats you can't keep."

"The saying is 'don't make _promises_ you can't keep'. And don't treat me like a kid" he protested, straightening the kinks in his hair.

"Then stop acting like one. Go be a man and apologise."

"It's a wonder Lina hasn't killed you yet, if this is how you treat her."

Gourry smiled and put his hand on Zel's back leading him back towards town, despite the chimera's protests and dragging feet.

_Sometimes it's strange to think I actually am the oldest of everyone. Except Xellos, because he's a really, really old man, though he doesn't look it. __But that has nothing to do with what I meant to say..._

_After that talk, I wondered if being the oldest made me responsible for…anything. For keeping us all together, making sure they don't get hurt emotionally, making them consider others and be better people for it. Anything other than Lina's safety._

_But then I realised, and I think I knew it all along, if that makes sense, but I realised that being older doesn't make me responsible -however being their friend does. _

_We have to consider each other's feelings and take care of one another, so that someone's there for us when we need them. I think a lot of people would be a lot happier if they had someone there for them. And if those people were happier there'd be a lot less fighting._

_I hope I can remember all that later, it sounds important._

Zel and Gourry made their way back to the inn and snuck past Lina and Xellos who were still sorting through the packs the priest had recovered from the lake, discarding everything that was too water-damaged and trying to save what was left.

Gourry stopped at the top of the staircase, and motioned for Zel to continue round the corner to the rooms.

"I'll stay here and make sure no-one comes up for while." Zelgadiss nodded his thanks and continued on pausing outside Amelia's door. With visible hesitation, he gulped and rapped his knuckles against the door softly.

"A-Amelia?"

There was no answer from within and Zel sighed, he knew this wouldn't be easy. Facing a door was worse because he couldn't see her reaction to know if he was only making a bigger fool of himself. He fidgeted with the bracelet on his canteen for a minute wondering if it would be worth his damaged pride when his actions hit him; Amelia was his _friend_, the bracelet was proof of that; his pride, and his fear, would have to take second place.

"Listen Amelia, I…" he paused and swallowed, finally set aside his own feelings and started again "I'm an idiot and a fool. In no way, shape or form do I ever want shot of you or Lina or Gourry or Xel- well, maybe Xellos. Even when I find my cure I'll still want to be part of… what did I call it? Your ventures." He paused again and when there was no sound from within continued.

"I want to help you find the Heart of Iris, and if I ever say I'm too busy for you again then by all means fireball me. Or have Lina do it, either way. You're one of my best friends Amelia. One of my only friends, and I wouldn't trade that for-" he stumbled on his words, he couldn't say 'anything' that wasn't him, wasn't his priority, not yet. He took a deep breath and finished "-for a lifetime away from Xellos." He hoped that would do.

The silence echoed loudly and he grew nervous, shuffling from one foot to the other.

"I hope you're not asleep. I really don't want to say all that again. For that matter I hope I have the right room and I'm not talking to myself -or worse, to a complete stranger" he added, looking down the corridor to count the rooms. Then his sensitive ears caught a giggle, and movement in the room.

The door opened and Amelia stood there, hugging her arms into herself. Her face was thankfully clear, dry and free from tear stains. A small smile graced her features and humour twinkled in her eyes. The only mark of any kind he could find on her were ink stains on her forearms; apparently she had been constructive with her time rather than wasting tears on him- Lina's influence no doubt.

"I'm worth more than a lifetime away from Xellos-san, huh?"

Hesitantly, Zel moved toward the princess and gently placed his hands on her shoulders, meeting her gaze with a half-smile of his own.

"Much more. Friends?" he asked and Amelia nodded, slipping her arms around his waist in a hug.

"Friends" she agreed.

Peering round the corner at the end of the hallway, Gourry smiled then jumped suddenly feeling another figure graze against him

"Aw how cute. Hehehe Zel-kun is in for the teasing of his life!" Lina grinned and rubbed her hands together gleefully. But stopped and sighed when she felt Gourry's hand on her shoulder.

"Oh alright. Come on they're serving dinner now."

_Something big happened today. I'm not sure what, but I think it's something to do with us being together. And looking at those two, I'm sure that whatever happens if we stick together we'll come out of it just fine._

"Hey lovebirds! Come on, last one downstairs has to pay the dinner bill!"

"Lina-san it's not like that!"

_A little __burnt maybe, but alright._

_I know what you're thinking. "That was lame" "Where was Lina" "We want Lina!" right? Well don't worry__, every jellyfish needs his moment and now all the mushy introspective stuff is over with we move on to some real cool magic from yours truly._

_Next time on Slayers HEART; Nightmare! What are monsters afraid of?_


End file.
